Earth to Polaris: Incoming!

NASA is beaming a Beatles song toward the North Star. The song is Across the Universe.

From the AP here:

NASA on Monday will broadcast the Beatles’ song “Across the Universe” across the galaxy to Polaris, the North Star.

This first-ever beaming of a radio song by the space agency directly into deep space is nostalgia-driven. It celebrates the 40th anniversary of the song, the 45th anniversary of NASA’s Deep Space Network, which communicates with its distant probes, and the 50th anniversary of NASA.

But it will take 431 years to reach its final destination. That’s because Polaris is 2.5 quadrillion miles away.

NASA loaded an MP3 of the song, just under four minutes in its original version, and will transmit it digitally at 7 p.m. EST Monday from its giant antenna in Madrid, Spain.

This is pretty cool. Some of the lyrics say:

Sounds of laughter shades of life
are ringing through my open ears
exciting and inviting me
Limitless undying love which
shines around me like a million suns
It calls me on and on across the universe

And on Tuesday, the movie Across the Universe comes to DVD. You can get it here. My wife already ordered it and I expect it will be on continuous loop for at least a week.