\"It seems surreal,\" said will.i.am, who is also an actor. <\/p>\n
He explained how Charles Bolden, the Nasa administrator, had called him to suggest beaming a song back from Mars as part of educational outreach efforts by the US space agency. <\/p>\n
The song, which includes lyrics \"I know that Mars might be far, but baby it ain't really that far\", involved a 40-piece orchestra including French horns, rather than a more modern electronically-generated sound. <\/p>\n
The 37-year-old, whose real name William James Adams, told a student audience that he didn't \"want to do a song that was done on a computer,\" given that it was going to be the first piece of music broadcast back to the Earth from Mars. <\/p>\n
\"I wanted to show human collaboration and have an orchestra there and something that would be timeless, and translated in different cultures, not have like a hip hop beat or a dance beat,\" he said. <\/p>\n
\"A lot of times ... people in my field aren't supposed to try to execute something classical, or orchestral, so I wanted to break that stigma.\" <\/p>\n
The aim was to inspire young people like those at the Nasa event, including some from Boyle Heights in East Los Angeles where the musician grew up, to take a greater interest in science. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
Nasa Administrator Charles Bolden addressed the crowd in a video message encouraging students to study science, technology, engineering and maths. <\/p>\n
\"Mars has always fascinated us, and the things Curiosity tells us about it will help us learn about whether or not life was possible there,\" he said. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Originally posted here: <\/p>\n
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