Overview

• ESA’s Cebreros deep-space antenna transmitted a pre-recorded rendition of Johann Strauss II’s “The Blue Danube” on May 31, 2025.
• The signal travels at light speed and is expected to arrive at NASA’s Voyager 1, more than 15 billion miles away, in roughly 23 hours.
• The transmission honors Strauss’s 200th birthday and marks the European Space Agency’s 50th anniversary.
• A rehearsal recording was used to avoid technical issues, while live orchestra accompaniment was broadcast at screenings in Vienna, Madrid and New York.
• The initiative corrects the waltz’s absence from the 1977 Voyager Golden Records and highlights music’s role in cultural exchange across the cosmos.