Can will.i.am convince you to love NASA?

It’s been a rough year for NASA. President Obama’s proposed budget for 2013 would slash $300 million from the agency’s planetary sciences division—a 20% cut from the $1.5 billion it received for 2012. And many Americans are wondering if it makes sense to spend federal dollars on space exploration rather than putting that money to more practical use right here on Earth.

But here to tell you that space exploration is both cool and practical is none other than will.i.am, producer and frontman of the super group Black Eyed Peas.

On Wednesday NASA released a new video narrated by will.i.am as part of its “Spinoff” marketing campaign, which uses celebrities to help explain how the work NASA does in space has more grounded applications.

In the 1-minute slightly awkward video, will.i.am suggests that the challenges of space exploration often mirror those we have here on Earth—for example getting someone medical care when the nearest doctor is miles away, or getting clean water and electricity to a place that doesn’t have any. So when NASA scientists and engineers find solutions to these problems, people on Earth benefit too.

He explains that the air purifying system that allows farmers to keep crops fresh as they move from the field to the market comes from NASA technologies, and so do low-cost systems that provide clean water for communities that don’t have effective sanitation.

This is not the first time that NASA and will.i.am have teamed up in an effort to get publicity for the space agency.

Will.i.am gave of his celebrity presence at a “Tweetup” at the Kennedy Space Center’s Press Site in Florida during the prelaunch activity for the agency’s Mars Science Laboratory launch in November 2011. The musician also used the opportuity to push his own initiative called SYSTEM--which stands for Stimulating Youth for Sciences, Technology, Engineering, Math.

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Original source: Can will.i.am convince you to love NASA