To hear a dull rumble, a plain one: As the Wind sounds on Mars. The recordings, published by the Nasa, now, come from the Mars probe Insight. On the Red planet, and the sound spreads quite differently than on earth. This has to do with the composition of the atmosphere. the
How does it sound on an alien planet? This is a question only the makers of Science-Fiction’s movies, but scientists at the Nasa. The latter can now, at least for the Mars one answer: The Mars probe, InSight has, for the first time recorded the Wind on the Red planet. As the US space Agency Nasa, it was included on the solar modules of the probe blowing Wind from an air pressure sensor and a seismograph on Board.
On its website, Nasa has released the Audio recordings and a Video:
to Clearly hear a dull rumble is on this Material. According to Nasa, the recorded wind gusts had a speed of five to seven meters per second. On earth this wind would correspond to the speed of a weak to moderate breeze. The Wind was blowing, therefore, first of all, from a North-westerly and then South-East direction.
InSight has the 26. November on the Mars is placed. The landing was preceded by a nearly seven-month journey of the probe through space. Slotbar Insight is a 360-kilogram robot that does not roll, but stays in one place. The total of around 650-million-Euro Mission is set to last for two years.
the experiment equipment aboard the landing platform includes a built in Germany, driving rod to hammer on the surface of Mars, up to five meters deep hole. With InSight , the scientists want to investigate for the first time, the Interior of Mars and its structure. Thereby, possible vibrations and quakes of the planet to be measured. The scientists hope that insights about how Mars was formed billions of years ago. The recording of the Mars-Winds, was, according to the head of mission Bruce Banerdt, an “unplanned pleasure”.
“It sounds really alien” sound on Mars was long the subject of speculation
The scientist Thomas Pike, from Imperial College London, the rumbling sound reminded him of a Flag blowing in the Wind. “It sounds really alien, and that’s exactly what it is.”
With the sounds of the earth the records from the Mars, however, are already hard to compare. Phenomena such as Thunderstorms, sandstorms, and quakes on the earth’s very loud, and on Mars also occur, like listening to a man there. What is crucial for the propagation of sound in the respective composition of the atmosphere of a planet. It is the source, the sound propagates. The Mars air acts on the basis of their composition, such as a silencer.
This means that you would not hear a cry that would be heard on earth, still a Kilometer away, on Mars, after a few meters. The propagation of sound on Mars has been studied with simulations. As acoustic communication, on the neighboring planets might look like, for future missions quite relevant.
In space, outside the atmosphere of a planet, there is no noise. There is perfect silence reigns.
