In the first planet-to-planet music broadcast, NASA’s Curiosity Rover beamed an uplifting song called Reach for the Stars by former Black Eyed Peas member Will.i.am. You can watch the video HERE.
“I had no idea that one day I would have a meeting at NASA, and I never thought that in a billion years a song would hitch a ride on a rocket and when it lands on Mars it would be beamed back to earth,” says Will.i.am.
We know what you’re thinking. No, the Martians weren’t clubbing to one of Will.i.am’s bass-filled electronica pop songs. For one thing, Reach for the Stars is actually backed by an orchestra and a children’s choir.
“I don’t think it’s a right thing to do to send a computer beat to Mars,” explains Will.i.am. “So I wanted to put an orchestra together to show human collaboration, exercising their skills, their craft. That robot is going to Mars but a piece of humanity, art, is going as well.”
Another reason why it’s impossible to think that the Martians were partying to this song is because the rover doesn’t have speakers to broadcast music to its surrounding landscape, according to The New York Times.
At the premiere at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, Will.i.am, together with NASA, gathered several students to talk to them about Mars, play Reach for the Stars and explain the technology NASA used in transmitting the song.
Image Source: Here.