Listen to how the Red Planet “breathes”.
For the first time in history, NASA's InSight robotic station recorded and sent wind noise on Mars to Earth. After that, the specialists of the department processed it for listening on "earthly" devices.
The sound was captured on December 1 by two sensors on InSight, and the wind was estimated to be moving at approximately 16 to 24 kilometers per hour while recording the vibrations. In addition, NASA reported that the gusts likely blew from the northwest towards the southeast.
The recorded sound is similar to the sounds of the wind or crashing waves on Earth. However, it spread at a very low frequency, so NASA experts increased the frequency by two octaves.
“Capturing this sound was unplanned, although this is one of the objectives of our mission. We measure various motion processes on Mars, and, of course, this includes motion caused by sound waves,”said NASA expert Bruce Banerdt.
InSight landed on Mars on November 26 after seven months en route. In addition to the weather, he explores the surface of the Red Planet, and also analyzes its seismic activity. And NASA's next rover, to launch in 2020, will have two microphones on board for clearer sound recording.
GRIGORY PUSHKAREV
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