ARTICLE THREE: '30 Seconds to Mars announce New Album, Send New Single Into Space...Literally'

Thirty Seconds to Mars has been on the rise in popularity ever since their debut self titled album hit the shelves back in 2002. Led by actor Jared Leto as the lead vocalist, this progressive rock/ post grunge band has a discography that is nothing to sneeze at. Described as having a sound that mixes progressive, post grunge, screamo, and space and synth rock, this band has a unique sound that is hard to duplicate. Their sophomore album 'A Beautiful Lie' went platinum in the US with over 1,200,000 in sales. It also spawned four hit singles that topped the radio charts; 'The Kill', 'Attack', 'From Yesterday' and the title track of the album 'A Beautiful Lie', and is a raved album by music critics. If you have not given it a listen, it is highly recommended. Their most recent album was also vastly popular, titled 'This Is War' and spawning the singles of 'This is War' and 'Kings and Queens'.

            The band is also known for their extensive touring, having toured year round since their debut album in 2002 and continuing a non stop tour schedule until a year after their third album in 2011, taking the year of 2012 off to rest. To further stress how much this band loves playing shows, in December of 2011, the band made the Guinness Book of World Records after playing 309 consecutive shows in just two years. So it doesn't come as a shock that after only one year of rest, this hard working and dedicated band has announced that they will be releasing a new album this year in the middle of the summer/fall release schedule. No album name or definite release date has been confirmed, but lead vocalist Jared Leto has stated that the album is near complete, with many of the tracks on the album already mastered and ready to go. In January of 2013, the band played their first show in over a year, and debuted a new song titled 'Witness' to the crowd, only stating they were in the process of working on new material. The official announcement of the album came on February 28th, 2013.

            That, however, is not the major announcement that was made that day by the band. It was announced in the same article that the first single off of the album would be titled 'Up In The Air', and that we would not be the first to hear it. This does not refer to Americans, or any country for that matter. It was revealed in the article that a mastered CD of the single was actually going to be launched into space and played by astronauts on the International Space Station, and broadcast into space. This would be the first commercial form of music sent into space by any band in history. The CD was sent to NASA and and SpaceX for launch aboard the spacecraft SpaceX CRS-2. On March 1^st this was accomplished, being launched into space a Falcon 9 rocket with the mission. The spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station on March 3^rd, and was played and listened to by the Expedition 35 crew on board the space station. So, even though the aliens have already gotten to hear this song, we earthlings will have to wait until March 18^th, when 'Up In the Air' is released to the world for radio play. On the following day, the 19^th, the single will be available for digital download across the internet.