Black Eyed Peas front man Will.i.am has had his music beamed back to Earth by NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover.
The song entitled ‘Reach For The Stars' is the first musical composition to be transmitted to Earth from another planet.
While we would have opted for David Bowies ‘Life On Mars' ourselves, the concept came from Charlie Bolden, NASA Administrator placed a call to will.i.am – a self professed space geek would attended science magnet school.
will.i.am told the students of East Los Angeles Boyle Heights “So I asked the question: ‘Hey, what do you guys got coming up?. They said “We've got a rocket going to Mars.”
I said “Hey, did you ever think about putting a song on the rocket, so when the rocket lands (the song) comes back to Earth?”
The first verse of the song reads
Why they say the sky is the limit
When I've seen the footprints on the moon
Why do they say the sky is the limit
When I've seen the footprints on the moon
And I know the sky might be high
But baby it ain't really that high
And I know that Mars might be far
But baby it ain't really that far
Let's reach for the stars
will.i.am didn't write a dance track, so he gathered a 40 piece orchestra together to highlight musicians. His plan was to send a work of art to the Red Planet.
He said “”I didn't want to do a song that was done on computer. I wanted to show human cooperation and have an orchestra there, and (create) something that would be timeless, and translate to different cultures.”
He added that science, technology, engineering and mathematics are important for young students. “It's a reminder that anything is possible if you discipline yourself, and dedicate yourself and stand for something. We don't have to end up in the ‘hood.”
The BBC have posted a video on the experience, and you can watch it over here.
Kitguru says: Who knows, perhaps in future we will have the technology to kill the dots in ‘william'.