Mission Transmission

Mission Transmission was my idea, and I made it: in February 2022, the first radio programme ever beamed into deep space.

I produced it live from the Royal Observatory Greenwich, from the Prime Meridian itself, for Fun Kids, the UK’s children’s radio station. More than 2,500 children sent us something, and as many of their voices as would fit went into the programme. Astronaut Tim Peake was there for the countdown. So was Craig Glenday, editor-in-chief of Guinness World Records, who adjudicated it on the night and recognised the record: first radio programme beamed into deep space.

It also carried a cover of Coldplay & BTS’s My Universe, recorded for the show by KIDZ BOP.

The signal passed the Moon in 1.3 seconds. It reaches Proxima Centauri in 4.2 years, and the next galaxy in 2.5 million.