Reach for the Stars (will.i.am song)

Last updated
"Reach for the Stars (Mars Edition)"
William-reachforthestars.png
Promotional single by will.i.am
from the album #willpower
ReleasedAugust 28, 2012 (2012-08-28)
Genre
Length4:21
Label
Songwriter(s)
  • William Adams
  • Kenny "Audiobot" Oliver
  • Onlee Gill
Producer(s)
  • will.i.am
  • Audiobot (co-producer)
  • Dr. Luke

"Reach for the Stars" [1] (and their instrumental-driven version subtitled "Mars Edition" and "NASA Edition" [2] [3] ), is a song written, produced and recorded by American recording artist will.i.am in commemoration of the landing of the Curiosity rover on the planet Mars. First released on August 28, 2012 as a promotional single, the song also appears on the deluxe edition of his fourth studio album #willpower (2013). "Reach for the Stars (Mars Edition)" became the first song in history to be broadcast from another planet, completing a journey of more than 300 million miles between Mars and Earth. [4]

Contents

Background and development

"Reach for the Stars" was written in February 2011, after NASA asked will.i.am to write and produce a song for the Curiosity rover's landing on Mars. The songwriter said that the experience with NASA administrator Charles Bolden discussing the possibility of broadcasting a song from Mars was "surreal", The song is part of NASA's educational outreach, with will.i.am stating that the song "aims to encourage youth to study science." Rather than produce a song via the computer, will.i.am said that he wanted to show "human collaboration", which featured a 40-piece orchestra. He added that "people in my field aren't supposed to try and execute something classical, or orchestral, so I wanted to break that stigma, [and have something] that would be timeless and translated in different cultures." [5] [6]

NASA confirmed during the Mars Science Laboratory launch tweet-up on November 24, 2011 that it partnered with will.i.am to deliver a song for Curiosity's landing. [7] After being uploaded to the rover, which landed near the equator of Mars, the song was broadcast live from the planet, completing a journey of more than 300 million miles (approximately 482 million kilometers). [8] It became the first song in history to be broadcast from another planet and the second song to be broadcast in space, after the Beatles' "Across the Universe" was beamed into space by NASA in 2008. [8]

Track listing

  1. "Reach for the Stars (Mars Edition)" – 4:21

Credits and personnel

Release history

RegionDateFormatLabel
United States [10] August 28, 2012 Digital download will.i.am Music, Interscope Records
United Kingdom [11] September 5, 2012 Polydor Records

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>2001 Mars Odyssey</i> NASA orbiter for geology and hydrology

2001 Mars Odyssey is a robotic spacecraft orbiting the planet Mars. The project was developed by NASA, and contracted out to Lockheed Martin, with an expected cost for the entire mission of US$297 million. Its mission is to use spectrometers and a thermal imager to detect evidence of past or present water and ice, as well as study the planet's geology and radiation environment. The data Odyssey obtains is intended to help answer the question of whether life once existed on Mars and create a risk-assessment of the radiation that future astronauts on Mars might experience. It also acts as a relay for communications between the Curiosity rover, and previously the Mars Exploration Rovers and Phoenix lander, to Earth. The mission was named as a tribute to Arthur C. Clarke, evoking the name of his and Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Exploration of Mars</span> Overview of the exploration of Mars

The planet Mars has been explored remotely by spacecraft. Probes sent from Earth, beginning in the late 20th century, have yielded a large increase in knowledge about the Martian system, focused primarily on understanding its geology and habitability potential. Engineering interplanetary journeys is complicated and the exploration of Mars has experienced a high failure rate, especially the early attempts. Roughly sixty percent of all spacecraft destined for Mars failed before completing their missions, with some failing before their observations could even begin. Some missions have been met with unexpected success, such as the twin Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, which operated for years beyond their specification.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mars Science Laboratory</span> Robotic mission that deployed the Curiosity rover to Mars in 2012

Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) is a robotic space probe mission to Mars launched by NASA on November 26, 2011, which successfully landed Curiosity, a Mars rover, in Gale Crater on August 6, 2012. The overall objectives include investigating Mars' habitability, studying its climate and geology, and collecting data for a human mission to Mars. The rover carries a variety of scientific instruments designed by an international team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter</span> Timeline of important events in the history of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

Timeline for the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) lists the significant events of the launch, aerobraking, and transition phases as well as subsequent significant operational mission events; by date and brief description.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mars landing</span> Landing of a spacecraft on the surface of Mars

A Mars landing is a landing of a spacecraft on the surface of Mars. Of multiple attempted Mars landings by robotic, uncrewed spacecraft, ten have had successful soft landings. There have also been studies for a possible human mission to Mars including a landing, but none have been attempted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gale (crater)</span> Martian crater

Gale is a crater, and probable dry lake, at 5.4°S 137.8°E in the northwestern part of the Aeolis quadrangle on Mars. It is 154 km (96 mi) in diameter and estimated to be about 3.5–3.8 billion years old. The crater was named after Walter Frederick Gale, an amateur astronomer from Sydney, Australia, who observed Mars in the late 19th century. Mount Sharp is a mountain in the center of Gale and rises 5.5 km (18,000 ft) high. Aeolis Palus is the plain between the northern wall of Gale and the northern foothills of Aeolis Mons. Peace Vallis, a nearby outflow channel, 'flows' down from the hills to the Aeolis Palus below and seems to have been carved by flowing water. Several lines of evidence suggest that a lake existed inside Gale shortly after the formation of the crater.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Sharp</span> Martian mountain

Mount Sharp, officially Aeolis Mons, is a mountain on Mars. It forms the central peak within Gale crater and is located around 5.08°S 137.85°E, rising 5.5 km (18,000 ft) high from the valley floor. Its ID in the United States Geological Survey's Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature is 15000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aeolis Palus</span> Palus on Mars

Aeolis Palus is a plain between the northern wall of Gale crater and the northern foothills of Aeolis Mons on Mars. It is located at 4.47°S 137.42°E.

<i>Curiosity</i> (rover) NASA robotic rover exploring Gale crater on Mars

Curiosity is a car-sized Mars rover exploring Gale crater and Mount Sharp on Mars as part of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission. Curiosity was launched from Cape Canaveral (CCAFS) on November 26, 2011, at 15:02:00 UTC and landed on Aeolis Palus inside Gale crater on Mars on August 6, 2012, 05:17:57 UTC. The Bradbury Landing site was less than 2.4 km (1.5 mi) from the center of the rover's touchdown target after a 560 million km (350 million mi) journey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adam Steltzner</span> American aerospace engineer

Adam Diedrich Steltzner is an American NASA engineer who works for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). He worked on several flight projects including Galileo, Cassini, Mars Pathfinder, Mars Exploration Rovers (MER). He was the lead engineer of the Mars Science Laboratory's EDL phase, and helped design, build and test the sky crane landing system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of Mars Science Laboratory</span> Event timeline of the NASA Mars Science Laboratory mission

The Mars Science Laboratory and its rover, Curiosity, were launched from Earth on 26 November 2011. As of May 19, 2024, Curiosity has been on the planet Mars for 4190 sols since landing on 6 August 2012. (See Current status.)

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bradbury Landing</span> Landing site of Curiosity rover

Bradbury Landing is the August 6, 2012, landing site within Gale crater on planet Mars of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity rover. On August 22, 2012, on what would have been his 92nd birthday, NASA named the site for author Ray Bradbury, who had died on June 5, 2012. The coordinates of the landing site on Mars are: 4.5895°S 137.4417°E.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rocknest (Mars)</span> Sandpatch

Rocknest is a sand patch on the surface of Aeolis Palus, between Peace Vallis and Aeolis Mons, in Gale crater on the planet Mars. The patch was encountered by the Curiosity rover on the way from Bradbury Landing to Glenelg Intrigue on September 28, 2012. The approximate site coordinates are: 4.59°S 137.44°E.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mars 2020</span> Astrobiology Mars rover mission by NASA

Mars 2020 is a NASA mission that includes the rover Perseverance, the now-retired small robotic helicopter Ingenuity, and associated delivery systems, as part of the Mars Exploration Program. Mars 2020 was launched on an Atlas V rocket at 11:50:01 UTC on July 30, 2020, and landed in the Martian crater Jezero on February 18, 2021, with confirmation received at 20:55 UTC. On March 5, 2021, NASA named the landing site Octavia E. Butler Landing. As of 20 May 2024, Perseverance has been on Mars for 1155 sols. Ingenuity operated on Mars for 1042 sols before sustaining serious damage to its rotor blades, possibly all four, causing NASA to retire the craft on January 25, 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Music in space</span> Music from a spacecraft in outer space

Music in space is music played in or broadcast from a spacecraft in outer space. The first ever song that was performed in space was a Ukrainian song “Watching the sky...”(“Дивлюсь я на небо”) sang on 12 August 1962 by Pavlo Popovych, cosmonaut from Ukraine at a special request of Serhiy Korolyov, Soviet rocket engineer and spacecraft designer from Ukraine. According to the Smithsonian Institution, the first musical instruments played in outer space were an 8-note Hohner "Little Lady" harmonica and a handful of small bells carried by American astronauts Wally Schirra and Thomas P. Stafford aboard Gemini 6A. Upon achieving a space rendezvous in Earth orbit with their sister ship Gemini 7 in December 1965, Schirra and Stafford played a rendition of "Jingle Bells" over the radio after jokingly claiming to have seen an unidentified flying object piloted by Santa Claus. The instruments had been smuggled on-board without NASA's knowledge, leading Mission Control director Elliot See to exclaim "You're too much" to Schirra after the song. The harmonica was donated to the Smithsonian by Schirra in 1967, with his note that it "...plays quite well".

<i>Perseverance</i> (rover) NASA Mars rover deployed in 2021

Perseverance, nicknamed Percy, is a car-sized Mars rover designed to explore the Jezero crater on Mars as part of NASA's Mars 2020 mission. It was manufactured by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and launched on July 30, 2020, at 11:50 UTC. Confirmation that the rover successfully landed on Mars was received on February 18, 2021, at 20:55 UTC. As of 20 May 2024, Perseverance has been active on Mars for 1155 sols since its landing. Following the rover's arrival, NASA named the landing site Octavia E. Butler Landing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jennifer Harris Trosper</span> American aerospace engineer

Jennifer Harris Trosper is an American aerospace engineer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. During her 30-year career at JPL, Trosper has occupied crucial positions in engineering management pertaining to every spacecraft that has traversed the Martian surface. Because of her leadership and engineering expertise, Trosper has appeared on broadcast media outlets as an authority in development and execution of missions to Mars.

References

  1. Reach For the Stars by will.i.am , retrieved 2019-11-30
  2. Reach for the Stars (Mars Edition) - Single by will.i.am , retrieved 2019-11-30
  3. will.i.am - Reach For The Stars (Mars Edition) - Listen on Deezer , retrieved 2019-12-29
  4. Karimi, Faith (August 29, 2012). "Will.i.am premieres song -- from Mars". CNN . Retrieved January 25, 2014.
  5. "Will.i.am track played on Mars using speakers from the Curiosity rover". news.com.au. News Corp Australia. August 29, 2012. Retrieved August 30, 2012.
  6. "Students 'Reach for the Stars' with will.i.am". www.jpl.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2019-11-29.
  7. "#NASATweetup: Rock Star Will 1x Partners with NASA, Has a S.Y.S.T.E.M. to Make Science and Technology Cool". Solo Travel Girl. 27 November 2012. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  8. 1 2 "Will.i.am & Mars: 'Reach For The Stars' Beamed From Curiosity Rover". The Huffington Post . August 29, 2012. Retrieved August 30, 2012.
  9. "Reach for the Stars (Mars Edition) – Single by will.i.am". iTunes Store (US). Apple . Retrieved August 30, 2012.
  10. "Reach For The Stars (Mars Edition)". Amazon.com (US). Retrieved January 25, 2014.
  11. "Reach For The Stars (Mars Edition)". Amazon.com (UK). Retrieved January 25, 2014.