A sound gathered by the mission may not feel the same on Mars as it would our ears on Earth. A new interactive online experience will let you see the difference.
When the Mars Perseverance rover hits the Red Planet on February 18, 2021, it will not only collect amazing images and rock samples; the data it returns may also include some recorded sounds from Mars.
The rover will feature a pair of microphones, which will provide – if all goes as planned – an interesting and historical sound about arriving and landing at Mars, along with the rover’s sounds at work and wind and other environmental noise.
The way many things sound on Earth would be a little different on the Red Planet. That’s because Martian atmosphere is only 1% as dense as Earth’s atmosphere at the surface and has a different shape than ours, which affects sound transmission and propagation. But the difference between sounds on Earth and Mars would be much less than, for example, someone’s voice before and after inhaling helium from a balloon.
NASA allows this webpage to hear some familiar sounds on Earth because scientists expect you to hear them if you were on Mars. You will hear, for example, birds chewing, carrying a reversing truck, a bicycle bell, and music as they sound on our planet and as scientists expect them to be. singing on Mars. The differences are subtle.
The microphones
One microphone on board Perseverance, located on a SuperCam instrument at the top of the rover’s mast, will be used for science and to record audio of Stability and natural sounds on Mars. It captures the laser sounds of the rover turning rock into plasma when it hits a target to gather information about rock buildings, including hardness. Because the SuperCam microphone is located on the rover’s remote sensing mast, it can be identified in a potential sound source guide.
“It’s amazing all the science we get with an instrument as simple as a microphone on Mars,” said Baptiste Chide, a graduate researcher in planetary science at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory who contributed to the SuperCam microphone.
An additional experimental microphone on board the rover will attempt to record sounds during entry, descent and landing (EDL). It may capture, for example, the sounds of pyrotechnic machines firing to release the parachute, Martian winds, wheels crashing down on the Martian surface, and the oar engines of the rescue vehicle as it flies to safe away from the rover. This mic is off-the-shelf, with one tweak. “We put a little grille at the end of the microphone to protect it from Martian dust,” said Dave Gruel, Mars 2020 assembly manager, test, launch and guide for EDL camera and microphone at JPL.
Soundboard for Mars Audio
Members of the SuperCam science team contributed to this interactive experience, providing the scientific downside to why sounds are different on Mars than on Earth. It is based on theoretical models of sound propagation in the Martian atmosphere.
The scientists give three main reasons for the differences in sound:
- Temperature: The cooler Martian feel reduces the speed at which sound waves reach the terminal microphone. If something is close to the microphone, we may not notice much difference, but distant sounds may have more pronounced changes.
- Density: Because Martian atmosphere is much denser than we have here on Earth, it affects how sound waves travel from the source to the detector. Sounds are likely to be quieter, with fewer signals and noise. Silent and even louder sounds may be more difficult to hear.
- Making the atmosphere: Because Mars ‘s atmosphere is mostly carbon dioxide (Earth’ s atmosphere is mostly nitrogen and oxygen), sounds are more likely to be weaker than bass fields, meaning we may not hear them. as well as lower sounds.
Chide said, “Sounds on Mars are a little different than they are on Earth because of the shape of the atmosphere and its properties. All noises will be lower in volume due to low pressure. In addition, the higher frequency tones are strongly amplified by the carbon dioxide molecules. Overall, it would be like listening through a wall. ”
Since we have never used microphones on Mars before, this test may reveal some weird things. While scientists try to predict as best they can as they hear, they will not know for sure until there is perseverance on the Red Planet. Whatever they find out, Gruel said, “I think it’s going to be nice to hear sounds from another planet. ”
“Recording sounds that can be heard on Mars is a great experience,” said Chide. “With the microphones on board permanence, we will make the fifth study of Mars’ study. It will open up a new field of scientific study for both the atmosphere and the surface. ”
The first sounds can be brought back to Earth and made available to the public within days of landing, with a more processed version released about a week later. The team processes the sounds, with the help of audio experts, to hear the most interesting sounds.
Listen to audio clips by Dave Gruel, recorded on the same type of microphone used for getting in, out and landing at:
For additional audio clips (from a different microphone) of Baptiste Chide, go to:
And how would you make sound on Mars? Your voice would be a quieter, calmer tone, and it would take others longer to hear you. Check back to mars.nasa.gov/mars-sounds for a future experience in which you can “Martianize” your voice and hear how it might sound on the Red Planet.
More about the mission
The main goal of the Perseverance mission on Mars is astrobiology, involving the discovery of signs of microbial old life. The rover will mark the geology of the planet and the climate of the past, pave the way for human study of the Red Planet, and will be the first mission to collect Martian rock and regolith and accumulate (broken rock and dust).
Subsequent missions, currently being considered by NASA in collaboration with the European Space Agency, would send spacecraft to Mars to collect and preserve these preserved samples from the surface. back to Earth for in-depth analysis.
The Mars 2020 mission is part of a larger program that includes missions to the Moon as a means of preparing for a human study of the Red Planet. With responsibility for returning astronauts to the Moon by 2024, NASA will establish a stable human presence on and around the Moon by 2028 through NASA’s Artemis lunar exploration plans.
JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, and manages the operation of the Perseverance rover.
For more about Sustainability:
mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/
nasa.gov/perseverance
Contact news media
DC Agle
Jet Dedication Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-9011
[email protected]
Gray Hautaluoma / Alana Johnson
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0668 / 202-358-1501
[email protected]/[email protected]
Written by Jane Platt