Will.i.am will make history this week when his new single is broadcast live from the surface of Mars.

The Black Eyed Peas rapper's tune Reach For The Stars will be beamed back to earth on Tuesday by NASA's Curiosity rover to a news conference in Pasadena, California.

The song is described as an ode to the singer's "passion for science, technology and space exploration".

The project is a collaboration between NASA and the rapper's i.am.angel Foundation, which helps provide digital resources in classrooms from kindergarten to grade 12.

The foundation will announce a new science, technology, arts, engineering and mathematics initiative featuring the Mars Curiosity Rover and other NASA assets.