This is what music or a child would sound like on Mars: scientists discover that it would be very different from Earth

2 minutes read

Thanks to historic landing of NASA’s Perseverance on Marsscientists have been able to gather more information, finding from the microphones integrated into the rover, that the speed of sound there is differentwhich could cause problems for humans that could arrive in the future, because the voice would be heard differently.

And it is that, the goal is that in a few years humanity reaches Mars and can even colonize it. In that sense, it is that all the possibilities that exist to make it a reality are analyzed. In this case, sound was analyzedwhich is extremely important for communication.

According to measurements presented at the Los Alamos National Laboratory’s 53rd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, on Mars there is not only one speed of sound, similar to the Earth, since this can vary by temperature and density of the medium. In other words, the measurement is based on the Jezero Crater where the rover landed and could change if it moves to another area.

Added to it, the red planet has some quirks in its atmosphere that affect the speed of sound. As a result, it was obtained that the speed is 240 meters per second; do not forget that the measurement could change in other conditions.

To get a clearer idea of what the sound on Mars is like, you can access this NASA web page (https://mars.nasa.gov/mars-sounds/) that allows you to listen to some familiar sounds from Earth, and as scientists think we would hear them if we were on Mars. It includes, for example, the greeting of a child, the song of birds, the beep of a backing truck, the bell of a bicycle and music as they sound on our planet and as scientists anticipate they would sound on Mars. The differences are subtle.

Perseverance’s onboard microphone, located on the SuperCam instrument at the top of the rover’s mast, is used for science and to record Perseverance audio and natural sounds on Mars.

Capture the rover laser sounds which turns rock into plasma when it hits a target to gather information about the rock’s properties, including hardness. Since the SuperCam microphone is located on the rover’s remote sensing mast, can point in the direction of a possible sound source.

“It’s amazing how much science we can get with an instrument as simple as a microphone on Mars,” Baptiste Chide, a postdoctoral researcher in planetary science at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and a past SuperCam microphone collaborator, said in a statement. 2021.

You can capture, for example, the sounds of pyrotechnic devices being fired to release the parachute, the Martian winds, the wheels crunching on the Martian surface, and the roaring engines of the descending vehicle as it flies safely away from the rover. This microphone is ready to continue to be used.

A key goal of Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including searching for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet’s geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and store Martian rocks and regoliths (broken up rocks and dust).

(With information from EP)