Nasa’s Perseverance rover has expanded its Mars playlist.
After the sounds of the wind and the lasers of the laser were returned, the robot had just recorded the noise of its metal wheels as it slammed over the rocky surface of the planet.
“If I had heard these noises driving in my car, I would have pulled out and towed a tow truck,” jokes Dave Gruel, a chief engineer who operates the Rover’s cameras and microphones.
Perseverance has two recording devices.
They were taken on the robot to give the public a better idea of what Mars is like, but they also have some scientific value. The nature of the sounds says something about the physical properties of the surface – for example how hard or how soft the rocks are.
The recently released survey was made on March 7 during a 27m ride by Perseverance. The media at the top of this page is an abridged version of a series that appears in raw form for 16 minutes.
Sounds appear a little different on Mars compared to Earth, due to the much reduced air pressure and contrasting composition. The sounds may seem somewhat muted. However, the noise from the wheels is definitely loud.
Under the clatter, engineers say they can hear a kind of scratching sound, the source of which is still trying to identify.
They are not sure if it is electromagnetic interference by one of the electronic boxes of the Rover or just another aspect of the general ratchet produced in the interaction between the mobility system of the robot and the surface.
Perseverance ended up in Mars’ Jezero crater on February 18th. Most of his time has since been spent testing all of his systems, tools and instruments.
An immediate goal is a helicopter experiment. The rover brought a small helicopter from the earth.
The vehicle is looking for a suitable piece of terrain where the 2 kg device called Ingenuity can be safely placed on the ground. At the moment, the plane is being tossed under the belly of Perseverance.
Nasa says engineers have now identified a likely location that they will discuss in more detail in an information session on Tuesday next week.
The team behind Ingenuity will have 30 March days, or sols (31 Earth days), to run up to five test flights.
Once completed, the main mission can begin. Perseverance is on Mars to look for signs of past life and to collect rocks that can be sent back to earth later this decade.
An early destination for the robot will be the remains of a delta – a structure built up of the sludge and sand dumped by a river as it enters a wider body of water.
In the case of Jezero, this wider body was most likely a crater-wide lake that existed billions of years ago.