Danube Waltz conquers space: Vienna sends radio message to Voyager 1!

Danube Waltz conquers space: Vienna sends radio message to Voyager 1!

On June 1, 2025, an extraordinary campaign was launched in which the famous “Danube Waltz” by Johann Strauss was sent to Voyager 1. This measure contributes to the piece's long-standing association with space, which was particularly reinforced by Stanley Kubrick's iconic film "2001: A Space Odyssey." In this masterpiece, the waltz is used to accompany a scene in which prehistoric humans discover a mysterious monolithic object, marking the start of human evolution.

The Vienna Symphony Orchestra performed the piece in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA) and sent it by radio to Voyager 1. This mission is not only a musical experience, but also an attempt to correct a historical omission: During the original launch mission of Voyager 1 in 1977, the “Danube Waltz” was not recorded on the gold record. Instead, 27 musical works, including compositions by Bach, Beethoven and Mozart, were sent with the probe.

A significant event for space travel

The broadcast took place at the Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna and was broadcast live on the “Waltz into Space” website. The signal was sent to the probe via an ESA deep space antenna in Spain, with the transmission taking around 23 hours. An ambitious project that not only serves space research, but also celebrates the 200th birthday of Johann Strauss and commemorates the 50th anniversary of the founding of ESA. During these celebrations, the “Danube Waltz,” considered the unofficial anthem of space, is also used as wake-up music for astronauts.

Since their launch, Voyager 1 and its sister spacecraft Voyager 2 have traveled far outside the solar system, despite the enormous distance of around 25 billion kilometers from Earth. The question of whether the signal can be received by other civilizations remains speculative and depends on their technical capabilities.

Cinematic backgrounds

“2001: A Space Odyssey” is considered one of the most influential films in history and, among other things, focuses on humanity in the face of superior intelligent beings, represented by black monoliths. These monoliths take humanity to new heights and trace evolutionary progress and the emergence of space-based civilizations. In the film, the collaboration of astronauts like Bowman and Poole dealing with the monoliths is threatened by an unpredictable on-board computer, HAL, adding to the tension and philosophical reflection on humanity's role in the universe.

The transmission of the “Danube Waltz” to Voyager 1 is therefore not just a musical event, but an important cultural symbol that embodies the connection between humans and the cosmos.