While its core mission lasts just over two years, it could remain operational well beyond that-the Curiosity rover is still kicking nine years into a planned two-year stint. NASA's Mars 2020 rover Perseverance is equipped with two microphones, which will allow humanity to hear the sounds of the Red Planet for the first time. Thierry Fouchet of the Paris Observatory, who was also involved in the research, said that listening to turbulence, such as vertical winds known as convection plumes, will "allow us to refine our numerical models for predicting climate and weather".įuture missions to Venus or Saturn's moon Titan could also now come equipped with microphones.Īnd Perseverance is far from done eavesdropping. Maurice said he felt the "scientific gamble" of taking microphones to Mars was a success.
Sounds of mars drivers#
The recording could also warn about problems with the rover-like how drivers sense something's wrong when their car starts making strange noises. The microphones did pick up numerous "screech" and "clank" sounds as the rover's metal wheels interacted with rocks, the study said. "There are few natural sound sources with the exception of the wind," the scientists said in a statement linked to the study. While Mars Polar Lander and Phoenix carried microphones, InSight has recorded infrasound, and Huygens and Venera returned some acoustic measurements. It was otherwise so quiet on Mars that the scientists repeatedly feared something was wrong, the CNRS said, possibly provoking memories of two failed previous attempts in 19 to record sound there. High-frequency sounds attenuate very quickly in Mars atmosphere, which is just 1 as dense as Earths.
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