GODMOTHER Rover perseverance, which landed on Mars less than a week ago, broadcast the first audio recordings from the surface of the red planet.
NASA released the audio clips on Monday, along with the unseen clips video material of the rover landing last Thursday and the most sophisticated images taken since Mars.
Along with 25 cameras on board, the rover also carries two microphones. One failed to work during the rover’s descent, but the other caught the sounds of the Martian wind blowing past, as well as the rattling noise of the rover itself.
The audio clip marks the first sound ever recorded on another planet.
“For those wondering how you land on Mars – or why it’s so difficult – or how great it would be to do so – you don’t have to look any further,” said Steve Jurczyk, NASA’s chief administrator.
In the first recording, the sounds of the rover itself are more prominent. In the second, NASA filtered the sound to make the sounds on Mars clearer.
“Imagine sitting on the surface of Mars and listening to your surroundings,” said Dave Gruel, chief engineer for the rover’s camera and microphone subsystem, during a news conference. “It’s cool. Really neat. Overwhelming, if you will.”
Gruel said he is particularly excited about the audio recordings, so that visually impaired people can still feel the same excitement of reaching Mars as those who can view images and videos.
Mission team members said Monday that they hope to hear many other sounds from Mars, including wind, storms, falling rocks and the sound of Perseverance wheels as they move or drill as they dig into the Martian surface.
Audio can also signal to scientists how well Perseverance works and can identify potential problems with the rover. But because of the harsh conditions on Mars, scientists warn that the microphones may not last the duration of the mission.
Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator at NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, said the recordings were “closest to landing on Mars without wearing a pressure suit.”
Scientists have tried to hear Mars before. The microphones traveled twice to the red planet – Mars Polar Lander failed, and the Phoenix Lander microphone was never turned on.
In 2018, Insight Mars landed unexpectedly took on similar sounds of Martian wind vibrations using the air pressure sensor and seismometer. However, Perseverance captured the real thing on the surface of Mars, using “commercial shelf-type” microphones specifically dedicated to sound.
Perseverance will soon begin to work for signs of ancient life in Jezero Crater. And over a decade from now, he intends to be the first send samples from the red planet back to Earth.