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will.i.am debuts new single ... from Mars

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover has beamed to Earth will.i.am's 'Reach for the Stars' Tuesday, in the first music broadcast from another planet. 

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Bill Ingalls/NASA/AP
Will.i.am (c.) listens to NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Sciences and Exploration Directorate Chief Scientist Jim Garvin (l.) talk next to a mock up of the Mars rover Curiosity in Pasadena, Calif. On Tuesday, NASA will debut a new song by will.i.am.

| Pasadena, Calif.

Will.i.am has premiered his new single — from Mars.

The NASA rover Curiosity beamed to Earth his new song "Reach for the Stars" on Tuesday in the first music broadcast from another planet, to the delight of students who gathered at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to listen.

The song had been uploaded to the rover, which landed near the equator of Mars, and played it back — a journey of some 700 million miles (1,100 million kilometers).

The musician, who promotes science and mathematics education, was among more than a dozen celebrities who were invited to JPL to watch Curiosity's landing earlier this month. Others included Wil Wheaton, Seth Green and Morgan Freeman.

In 2008, NASA beamed the Beatles' "Across the Universe" into the cosmos to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the song.

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