The recent decades have been full of rover missions to Mars. Alongside the United States, other countries are developing studies and numerous advances that could one day help us send real people to the planet.
Sound in Mars: First-Ever Analysis
JEZERO CRATER, MARS - FEBRUARY 18: In this handout image provided by NASA, one of the six wheels aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover, taken by one of Perseverance’s color Hazard Cameras (Hazcams) after its landing in the area known as Jezero crater on February 18, 2021, on the planet Mars. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, paving the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith.
A new paper on the research revolving around the Martian orb showed how sound exists on the red planet. There were previous theories in which sound travels slower on Mars than on Earth. Evidence to provide sufficient data was collected when NASA's Perseverance rover took a trip around the vast Jezero crater.
According to a report, clips of clicks and whining were documented by the rover from the light winds of Mars and the engine of Perseverance's partner, Ingenuity.
In the study, experts carried out the first-ever analysis that covered the acoustics of the sounds from Mars. Their examination revealed how fast the sound travels in the red planet's extremely thin and carbon dioxide-dominated atmosphere.
The research developed what might be the most accurate sound reader that allows engineering and planetary science experts to capture sound information from different air pressure, such as the environment on Mars.
University of Toulouse's Institute for Research in Astrophysics and Planetology expert Sylvestre Maurice, who also led the study, explained that their development is a new approach to navigation that was not utilized in previous ventures on Mars.
Since its launch, the Perseverance rover has been studying Mars for nearly a year now. Some of the latest findings from the robot include rock fragments that scientists expect to include hints of the planet's early life.
Sound Travels Slow in the Red Planet
Unknown to many, the Perseverance rover is equipped not only with imaging instruments but also with microphones. One feed is embedded in the rover's SuperCam, and the other inside the rover's chassis. Through the capacity of both microphones, Perseverance can hear its mechanical sounds and even the dust movements in its immediate area.
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA-JPL), which serves as the ground control for Perseverance, explained that the microphones were useful for other measurements that the rover collects on the Martian planet. From wind gusts to turbulence, the rover captured the tiniest scales for the first time.
The Ingenuity helicopter's sound was also measured to test Perseverance's microphones' effectiveness. According to the study, the flying machine runs its rotor at 2,500 revolutions per minute, which produces a low-pitched sound at around 84 hertz.
Earth sounds travel at approximately 343 meters per second. On Mars, it was found that low-pitched sounds travel at 240 meters per second and high-pitched sounds at 250 meters per second.
In the first few tests, the scholars assumed that the microphones were broken due to a prevalent silence recorded from Mars. However, these changed when the experts confirmed that the sounds vary depending on the seasons of the planet, as it experienced various atmospheric pressures in certain periods.
The study was published in the journal Nature, titled "In situ recording of Mars soundscape."
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