Blasting off melody: Johann Strauss waltz zips to the cosmos from Vienna
Cosmic Melodies: Viennese Strauss waltzes beamed to space from their original source - Cosmic Well Dispatch: Vienna-based Strauss-Waltzer Music sent soaring into the cosmos
Here's a celestial spin on a classic tune! The European Space Agency (ESA) under its current director, Josef Aschbacher, digitalized and beamed the timeless strains of Johann Strauss II's waltz into the upper reaches of the universe.
This music wasn't part of any scientific mission; it was performed to honor the 200th anniversary of Strauss II's birth, which fell on October 25, 1825, in the Austrian Empire. Coincidentally, the event took place just after the 50th anniversary of the ESA.
Norbert Kettner, head of Vienna's tourism board, illuminated the connection between Strauss and space, mentioning that "The Blue Danube" was prominently featured in Stanley Kubrick's film odyssey "2001: A Space Odyssey" and has since earned the mantle of the official space anthem, composed of a whopping 13,743 notes.
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- European Space Agency (ESA)
- Museum of Applied Arts
- Vienna
- Current Director General at ESA
- Josef Aschbacher
- AFP
Additional Info:
While the ESA has not officially launched a mission to send Johann Strauss' waltz into space, the well-known instance of music being broadcast to the cosmos is NASA's "Voyager Golden Record," which features various Earth-born tunes. The director of the ESA at the moment is Josef Aschbacher, who has been leading the space exploratory agency since 2021. He is actively involved in numerous initiatives related to the space industry, including discussions about recent NASA budget cuts and ESA's long-term strategic plans[1][2][3].
- I'm not sure I'm going to be able to do this, but it might be interesting to imagine if the European Space Agency (ESA), led by current director Josef Aschbacher, were to launch a mission to send a Johann Strauss waltz into space, similar to NASA's "Voyager Golden Record."
- Connecting the dots between science, space-and-astronomy, entertainment, and music, it's fascinating to note that Johann Strauss' waltz, often referred to as the "official space anthem," has been featured in both the European Space Agency's symbolic endeavors and the iconic film "2001: A Space Odyssey."
