The transmission was sent from the largest radio telescope in the southern hemisphere on Friday 17th May, 7:45pm AEST at the Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope (UTMOST) – located on the outskirts of Canberra, ACT. 

The radio telescope facility, owned and operated by The University of Sydney, is used to listen to the galaxy, but was modified to allow the innovative message to be beamed directly towards Orion’s Belt – a callback to the original Men In Black™ film.

Through an exclusive partnership with Swinburne’s Centre for Astrophysics, Lexus has encoded the intoxicating engine sound of the naturally aspirated 5.0-litre V8 into an audio waveform with the open invitation:

“New Lexus RC F. Earth. We’ve been expecting you.”

The crafting of the intergalactic invitation has been led by Professor Matthew Bailes with help from Swinburne’s astrophysics team and the on-campus supercomputer, OzStar. 

“We’re experts at listening to and decoding the naturally occurring radio transmissions from neutron stars but Lexus wanted us to invert that process,” said Professor Bailes. 

“We had to find a solution that was both technically feasible, adhered to radio transmission regulations and didn’t blow up our telescope. In a few thousand years we’ll find out if anyone has heard it.”

Lexus Australia is renowned for its exceptional customer service, and The Intergalactic Test Drive demonstrates just how far it will go to anticipate the needs of everyone – and anything else – that’s out there.

Scott Thompson, Lexus Australia chief executive, said: “The Lexus brand is proud of anticipating the needs of its customers before they’ve communicated them, and we are excited to take that philosophy beyond Earth to new worlds in an innovative partnership while showcasing one of our most evocative powerplants.”