30 Seconds to Mars' single is out of this world

Rockers 30 Seconds To Mars are literally out of this world - their new single has been launched into space.

The band, fronted by actor Jared Leto, headed to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) base in Cape Canaveral in Florida on Friday (01Mar13) to send the first copy of their song Up In The Air into orbit on board a SpaceX rocket, bound for the International Space Station (ISS).

Leto reveals the launch was the development of a crazy idea he had had some time ago to help the group celebrate the upcoming release of their next album in a big way.

He tells MTV.com, "It was a phenomenal morning; it's been a mind-blowing experience, sending our music up into space, where it's pushing into orbit and going around the earth, that's a pretty amazing thing to think about.

"It seemed impossible; for a moment I played with the idea of a weather balloon, but I had been speaking with NASA for quite some time about ways to find something creative to do together. And I presented them with this idea and here we are...

"A core part of what Thirty Seconds To Mars is about is dreams... creativity and dreams are one in the same. And so it's inspiring and challenging to try to make the impossible into reality. And this has certainly been an example of that; putting your music into space is no easy feat."

Leto and his bandmates will continue their collaboration with NASA by visiting Mission Control Houston in Texas on the eve of their single release on 19 March (13) to take part in a special question and answer session with Tom Marshburn, one of the astronauts onboard the ISS.