[ad_1]
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) released two historic audio recordings of the surface of Mars on Wednesday.
In the first audio clip, recorded using the Perseverance Mars rover’s two microphones, listeners can hear the wind.
NASA’S CHANDRA OBSERVATORY LOOKING AT BARRED SPIRAL GALAXY AT 86 MILLION LIGHT YEARS
In its article on SoundCloud, NASA described sound as “listening to a seashell or having a cupped hand over your ear.”
They obtained the audio for the instrument on February 19, approximately 18 hours after landing on the planet’s Jezero crater.
“The mast of the rover, holding the microphone, was still stowed on the Perseverance deck, so the sound is muffled,” they explained.
In the second clip, listeners can hear laser impacts on a rocky target in the audio that was taken on March 2.
“The sounds of 30 impacts are heard, some slightly louder than others. Variations in the intensity of the zapping sounds will provide information about the physical structure of the targets, such as its relative hardness or the presence of aging coatings. NASA wrote in a caption. “The target, Máaz (‘Mars’ in Navajo), was about 3.1m away.”
Both recordings were made using the rover’s SuperCam, which is a rock-vaporizing instrument mounted on the “head” of the rover’s mast that will help scientists search for fossils on the Red Planet.
In the clip with audible wind, the mast on which the microphone rests was still stowed away, muffling the sound, of which Naomi Murdoch, a researcher at the Higher Institute of Aeronautics and Space (ISAE-SUPERAO) and planetary, has discussed at a new joint conference with the Center National D’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) and NASA on Wednesday.
“First of all, on the surface of Mars, we have very low atmospheric pressure. It’s actually 150 times lower than on Earth. Plus, the atmosphere is made up of carbon dioxide,” said Murdoch. “And, these two factors together mean that sound does not travel the same way on the surface of Mars as it does on Earth.”
CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP
“For this reason, the SuperCam microphone is particularly sensitive. And it allows us to record sounds despite the strong attenuation of the Martian atmosphere,” she said.
The Mars 2020 rover marks the third time the microphone has been sent to Mars.
[ad_2]
Source link