Apple, Inc. and NASA together will mark the historic rendezvous of the Juno spacecraft with Jupiter on July 4 with a series of entertainment events back on Earth.

Juno, which is an acronym for "JUpiter Near-polar Orbiter," was launched on Aug. 5, 2011 and will give scientists their closest look ever at the solar system's largest planet and the second planet to be formed in the solar system.

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From a polar orbit, Juno will study Jupiter's composition, gravity field, magnetic field and polar magnetosphere. It will also search for clues about how Jupiter formed; will try to find out if Jupiter has a rocky core and determine the amount of water present its atmosphere, among others.

NASA and Apple entered into a partnership five years ago to celebrate Juno's July 4 orbital insertion. In one of these joint projects, NASA will send back sounds of space for artists to make music with. This music will be featured on Apple's iTunes and the Apple Music subscription service.

NASA wants to inspire musicians and everyone to hear more about the Juno mission and make more of a connection with Jupiter.

On June 30, Apple launched a "Destination Jupiter" page on iTunes with songs inspired by the Juno mission. The songs were created by Brad Paisley, Corrine Bailey Rae, Quin, Zoé, Jim James, GZA the Genius and Trent Reznor (who's the Nine Inch Nails frontman and an Apple executive).

The songs sell for $1.29 each. Reznor's tune is entitled "Juno" while Bailey's is called "The Skies Will Break."

Musicians "can literally play Jupiter," said Scott Bolton, principal investigator for the Juno mission.

"To the untrained ear, they might sound like static, but you'll hear lots of different sounds, like a whistle, or crackling noises or big shocks. You can hear a lot of different sounds. It's basically a keyboard."

On the other hand, Apple vice-president Robert Kondrk said the "goal is to make science and technology more accessible and relatable to everyone."

In a second project, Apple and NASA collaborated on a short musical film called "Visions of Harmony" also designed to celebrate NASA's Juno spacecraft reaching Jupiter's orbit.  The film intends to offer "education and inspiration throughout the historic journey."

Visions of Harmony celebrates the link between exploring space and making music. It features songs from artists like Weezer and Reznor. Reznor and Atticus Ross created a song inspired by sounds emitted by Jupiter. Weezer wrote a single called "I Love the USA." 

TagsNASA, apple, Jupiter, Destination Jupiter, Juno spacecraft, Music