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Viennese Waltz travels into space: Danube Waltz sent for Voyager 1!
Vienna broadcasts the "Danube Waltz" into space on Voyager 1 to correct a cultural error from 1977.
Viennese Waltz travels into space: Danube Waltz sent for Voyager 1!
On June 1, 2025, a unique event was celebrated in Vienna: The famous “Danube Waltz” by Johann Strauss was transmitted into space. The Vienna Symphony Orchestra played the iconic work on Saturday evening at the Museum of Applied Arts (MAK). From there, the concert was broadcast not only to the beach of the Danube Canal in Vienna and New York's Bryant Park, but also directly into space. Deutschlandfunk culture reports that a 35-meter parabolic antenna in Spain digitized the music and transmitted it to the Voyager 1 spacecraft, some 25 billion kilometers away.
Although the musical broadcast had no scientific purpose, Vienna Tourism explained that this campaign was intended to make up for a historical oversight. During what was presumably the first mission into interstellar space, the launch of Voyager 1 in 1977, numerous pieces of music by famous composers, 27 in total, were given on a gold-plated copper record, but not the “Danube Waltz”.
A contribution to history
The transmission of Strauss' waltz to Voyager 1 has a deeper meaning: The "Danube Waltz" has earned a place as the unofficial anthem of space and often serves as wake-up music for astronauts. Its connection to space goes back to an iconic film: director Stanley Kubrick used the waltz in his classic “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
The Vienna Symphony Orchestra performed the work in a special atmosphere, while the European Space Agency (Esa) celebrated its 50th anniversary on May 31st. The project was realized as part of Vienna Tourism's celebrations for the 200th birthday of Johann Strauss. The signal from Vienna to Voyager 1 takes around 23 hours to travel into space.
The journey into the unknown
Voyager 1, in operation since 1977, has traveled more than 25 billion kilometers from Earth and is now outside the solar system. The fate of the signal, now wandering in the vastness of space, remains uncertain. Whether it can be received by other civilizations depends on their technical means. T Online highlights that this musical gesture can at the same time be viewed as a manifestation of our cultural achievements into the infinity of space.