Monday, April 4, 2022 at 4:45 p.m. – Thanks to the Perseverance rover, scientists have been able to draw a portrait of the acoustic ecosystem of the red planet.
For the first time ever, it has been possible to capture sound at frequencies audible to humans on the planet Mars using Perseverance’s SuperCam microphone. The results of the recorded sounds were the subject of a recent article in the scientific publication Nature.
An unsuspected fact
Perhaps the most surprising finding to emerge from the SuperCam recording sessions is the identification of two speeds of sound. Indeed, by capturing the noises emitted by the Ingenuity helicopter – which accompanies Perseverance – and laser-induced sparks from the rover, the scientists were able to observe that there were two speeds of sound on Mars:
- The sound of the helicopter recorded a speed of 240 meters per second.
- The higher-pitched sound of the laser recorded a speed of 250 meters per second.
Good to know : the speed of sound on Earth is 340 meters per second. The speed of sound is slower due to the increased presence of CO2 in its atmosphere and its low pressure.
A research with multiple scopes
Data collection is not complete for SuperCam. The microphone will continue its activities. New recordings, in particular of Martian vertical winds for example, could even allow researchers to improve their numerical models for predicting the climate and weather of the red planet. This was mentioned by one of the authors of the article, Thierry Fouchet, director of the Paris Observatory.