Strauss' Waltz to Dance Among the Stars

The European Space Agency is planning an interesting event. They will send the famous "Blue Danube" waltz into outer space. This waltz, written by Johann Strauss II, is well-known and has a special connection to space. It was used in the 1968 movie "2001: A Space Odyssey. " In the film, the waltz plays as a spaceship docks with a space station. The scene shows the Earth and distant stars. A few days ago, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra played the waltz live. At the same time, a radio antenna in Spain sent the music into space. This event marks two important anniversaries. It is the 50th year since the European Space Agency was created. It is also 200 years since Johann Strauss II was born. The waltz was not included in NASA's 1977 Voyager mission. This mission sent music and other sounds into deep space. The European Space Agency wants to fix this. They believe the waltz should have been included. The radio antenna in Spain is quite large, about 115 feet across. It is used for many space missions. It helps study Mars, map the stars, and take pictures of the sun. For this event, it will send the waltz into space. The music will travel at the speed of light. It will overtake the Voyager 1 probe, which left the solar system in 2012. This shows that technology can send both science data and human art into space. This is not the first time music has been sent into deep space. Last year, NASA sent a song by Missy Elliott to Venus. In 2008, they sent "Across the Universe" by The Beatles into deep space. These events show that music can travel far beyond Earth. The European Space Agency's event is a unique way to celebrate two anniversaries. It also shows the connection between music and space.