Will.i.am's Mars rover Curiosity music: 'How amazing' [Video discussion]
Mars Rover Curiosity got into the music business this week, transmitting a song by musician will.i.am from the surface of Mars.
Times Science Writer Amina Khan will discuss this and other aspects of the Mars mission in a Google+ Hangout at 3 p.m. PDT. You can ask questions on Twitter using the hashtag #asklatimes.
“There’s no words to explain how amazing this is,” the singer, of Black Eyed Peas fame, said to the gathered audience, standing on stage with NASA astronaut Leland Melvin, the agency’s associate administrator for education.
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The song, called “Reach for the Stars,” was beamed back to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge, where will.i.am took the stage to answer questions from students from Boyle Heights, where he grew up.
The number features a 40-piece orchestra and isn’t your standard urban hip-hop anthem, the singer pointed out, because it’s meant to weather the test of time and be easily translated across cultures.
“I know that Mars might be far, but baby it ain’t really that far / Let’s reach for the stars (reach for the stars),” will.i.am sings on the track, in ephemeral autotune.
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