NASA has released another audio recording—this time of its Perseverance rover firing lasers on the martian surface. However, it doesn’t sound as “Star-Wars-esque” as I expected—it didn’t go “pew pew pew“.
🔊 You’re listening to the first audio recordings of laser strikes on Mars. These rhythmic tapping sounds heard by the microphone on my SuperCam instrument have different intensities that can help my team figure out the structure of the rocks around me. https://t.co/nfWyOyfhNy
— NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) March 10, 2021
Posted on Soundcloud, the rover’s first audio recordings of the laser strikes on Mars sounds more like calm rhythmic ASMR-like tapping. The recordings were recorded on Perseverance’s SuperCam instrument—which helps identify minerals and rock compositions and looks for signs of past life on Mars.
The SuperCam also has the laser—which can zap areas from about 7 meters away. It uses its camera and spectrometers to examine the rock’s chemistry. The microphone on the SuperCam—which helped record the laser sounds—also helps scientists pick which rocks to probe. It also allows researchers to better understand the thin, carbon-dioxide in Martian atmosphere.
While the sound is disappointingly less dramatic than what a lot of people expected, it is still an insanely cool feat for space science. The Perseverance is the first Mars rover to have microphones, and we finally are able to listen to the sounds of the Red Planet.
Previously, NASA has sent spacecrafts to Mars that have carried microphones twice before. Unfortunately, the Mars Polar Lander failed. The Phoenix Lander had a microphone on the spacecraft’s descent camera—but it was never turned on.
The Perseverance Rover is in Mars to explore mainly the Jezero Crater. Scientists believe the area was once flooded with water and could be one of the most ideal places to find evidence of ancient microbial life.
[ SOURCE, IMAGE SOURCE ]
