Perseverance rover from NASA to record the sound of Mars for the first time

The latest rover from NASA is scheduled to land on Mars on February 18 at around 3:55 p.m. ET. The mission's name is Mars 2020 and the main job of this Rover would be to search for signs of ancient life apart from collecting as many samples of rock and regolith (broken rock and soil) and return to earth. Not just this, but one might even 'hear' Mars for the first time due to this rover!

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NASA's Perseverance Rover

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Perseverance Mars rover was launched on July 30, 2020, and it is going to land on Mars on February 18. The landing site is the Jezero Crater. This rover is carrying two microphones with it and this will allow it for the first time to directly record the sound of Mars. One of the two microphones is experimental and the second one will be dedicated to science.

The sound on Mars is not that different from what a person would experience on our planet Earth. There would be differences mainly due to the fact that both the planets have very different temperature, density, and chemistry. Sound on Mars will be quieter, more muffled and will take longer to reach one's ears. To sum it up, the atmosphere on Mars is mostly carbon dioxide, while on Earth, it is comprised of nitrogen and oxygen. Due to this, the sound on Mars are more attenuated.

The speed of sound, volume and sound quality are the main factors. Since the atmosphere on Mars is extremely different from that of the Earth, another difference will only be for the sounds that are high-pitched. 

The other experimental microphone on the Perseverance rover will be aiming to record all the types of ambient sounds which include the mission entry, descent and landing (EDL). This microphone is a protective grid which will keep it safe from all the dust on Mars during the EDL process.

All the above mentioned instruments are capable enough to record various types of sounds which comprise of any sound coming from pyrotechnic devices, sounds that get generated due to the wind, sounds from the wheels landing on the surface, and also the sounds coming from the engines of the descent vehicle when it starts to move away from the rover.

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