That's One Way to Debut Your Single: Black Eyed Peas Rapper Sends New Song From Mars

PASADENA, Calif. (TheBlaze/AP) -- At the beginning of the week, NASA tested out communication with Mars sending a "interplanetary voicemail" from Administrator Charles Bolden from Earth to Mars and back. Now rapper 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.

Hear the song for yourself:

The song had been uploaded to the rover, which landed near the equator of Mars, and played back - a journey of some 700 million miles.

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.