NASA shares new sound recordings of Mars rover Perseverance

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NASA has shared new audio recordings made by the Mars rover Perseverance while on the red planet. There are wind noises, driving and rolling noises, laser noises and the sound of the Ingenuity helicopter taking off.

In a video, scientists Nina Lanza and Justin Maki say they are amazed at the range of sound waves on Mars: “The atmosphere on Mars attenuates higher frequencies, which is why you often hear lower tones on the red planet. Yet sound waves travel over a much larger range. farther than we originally thought. Our models were wrong.”

This is evident from the sound fragment in the video on which the Ingenuity helicopter can be heard. The video also shares wind noises, laser noises and the driving and rolling noises. With the latter noises, Lanza notes that the metallic sound is caused by the metal wheels of the Perseverance as it rides over the stony surface of Mars.

The Mars rover has two microphones. One hangs on the side of the rover while the other was installed on the mast where other measuring equipment is also mounted. The microphones, according to the scientists, are “off the shelf” ones that are available to everyone and are not specifically designed for space travel. The video shows that the sounds date from the spring of 2021.

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