Is there anyone out there?: One of the 70-metre-wide antennae used by NASA's Deep Space Network.

Credit: NASA

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WASHINGTON: NASA will beam The Beatles' tune Across the Universe to the North Star this week to celebrate both the British band's and the U.S. space agency's 50th anniversaries.

The broadcast will start at 00:00am GMT Tuesday (11:00am Sydney time) and will travel toward the Little Dipper constellation's brightest star at the speed of light, or 307,000 kilometres per second, NASA said in a statement.

Long journey

The North Star is 431 light years from Earth, meaning that Across the Universe will take as many years to reach it.

The transmission over NASA's Deep Space Network will commemorate the 40th anniversary of the day The Beatles recorded the song, as well as the 50th anniversary of NASA's founding and The Beatles' beginnings, said NASA, many of whose founders and engineers are avid fans of the Fab Four.

Two other anniversaries also are being honoured by the broadcast: the launch 50 years ago this week of Explorer 1, the first U.S. satellite, and the founding 45 years ago of the Deep Space Network, an international network of antennas that supports missions to explore the universe, NASA said.

Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney welcomed the space launching of the song, which was written by John Lennon, the Beatle shot dead in New York City in 1980.

"Send my love to the aliens"

"Amazing! Well done, NASA!" he said in a message on NASA's website. "Send my love to the aliens. All the best, Paul."

John Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, said also in a statement the transmission would mark "the beginning of the new age in which we will communicate with billions of planets across the universe."

It is not the first time the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has used music by The Beatles. In November 2005, McCartney sang "Good Day Sunshine" at a live concert beamed up to the International Space Station.

NASA has also used several Beatles tunes to wake up space shuttle crews while in orbit.

For the February 4 celebration, NASA has invited people around the world to play "Across the Universe" on their audio systems at the same time NASA beams its version into outer space.

Some top NASA scientists and engineers involved in the effort are big Beatles fans.

"I've been a Beatles fan for 45 years – as long as the Deep Space Network has been around," said Barry Geldzahler, the network's program executive at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "What a joy, especially considering that 'Across the Universe' is my personal favourite Beatles song."