NASA’s Perseverance rover has sent back more than a few historical achievements and this latest one involving the Ingenuity drone is just another on that list.
This is the first time we have ever recorded the sound of another aircraft flying around on another planet. Thanks to NASA’s upload to YouTube, we can watch it for ourselves here at this link.
From NASA’s post discussing the latest activity on Mars:
“The laser zaps rocks from a distance, studying their vapor with a spectrometer to reveal their chemical composition. The instrument’s microphone records the sounds of those laser strikes, which provide information on the physical properties of the targets, such as their relative hardness. The microphone can also record ambient noise, like the Martian wind.
With Perseverance parked 262 feet (80 meters) from the helicopter’s takeoff and landing spot, the rover mission wasn’t sure if the microphone would pick up any sound of the flight. Even during flight, when the helicopter’s blades spin at 2,537 rpm, the sound is greatly muffled by the thin Martian atmosphere. It is further obscured by Martian wind gusts during the initial moments of the flight. Listen closely, though, and the helicopter’s hum can be heard faintly above the sound of those winds.”
You can check out some more media from NASA at this link.
If you’ve missed our other coverage of NASA’s missions to Mars, you can check those articles out at this link right here.
What do you think of NASA’s Ingenuity drone? Leave your comments below. Also, share some of your favorite astrophotography links in the comments if you like.
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[NASA]
