WhatB次元官网网址檚 a dust devil sound like on Mars? A NASA rover by chance had its microphone on when a whirling tower of red dust passed directly overhead, recording the racket.
ItB次元官网网址檚 about 10 seconds of not only rumbling gusts of up to 25 mph (40 kph), but the pinging of hundreds of dust particles against the rover Perseverance. Scientists released the first-of-its-kind audio Tuesday.
It sounds strikingly similar to dust devils on Earth, although quieter since MarsB次元官网网址� thin atmosphere makes for more muted sounds and less forceful wind, according to the researchers.
The dust devil came and went over Perseverance quickly last year, thus the short length of the audio, said the University of ToulouseB次元官网网址檚 Naomi Murdoch, lead author of the study appearing in Nature Communications. At the same time, the navigation camera on the parked rover captured images, while its weather-monitoring instrument collected data.
B次元官网网址淚t was fully caught red-handed by Persy,B次元官网网址� said co-author German Martinez of the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston.
Photographed for decades at Mars but never heard until now, dust devils are common at the red planet. This one was in the average range: at least 400 feet (118 meters) tall and 80 feet (25 meters) across, traveling at 16 feet (5 meters) per second.
The microphone picked up 308 dust pings as the dust devil whipped by, said Murdoch, who helped build it.
Given that the roverB次元官网网址檚 SuperCam microphone is turned on for less than three minutes every few days, Murdoch said it was B次元官网网址渄efinitely luckB次元官网网址� that the dust devil appeared when it did on Sept. 27, 2021. She estimates there was just a 1-in-200 chance of capturing dust-devil audio.
Of the 84 minutes collected in its first year, thereB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址渙nly one dust devil recording,B次元官网网址� she wrote in an email from France.
This same microphone on PerseveranceB次元官网网址檚 mast provided the first sounds from Mars B次元官网网址� namely the Martian wind B次元官网网址� soon after the rover landed in February 2021. It followed up with audio of the rover driving around and its companion helicopter, little Ingenuity, flying nearby, as well as the crackle of the roverB次元官网网址檚 rock-zapping lasers, the main reason for the microphone.
These recordings allow scientists to study the Martian wind, atmospheric turbulence and now dust movement as never before, Murdoch said. The resultsB次元官网网址滲次元官网网址渄emonstrate just how valuable acoustic data can be in space exploration.B次元官网网址�
On the prowl for rocks that might contain signs of ancient microbial life, Perseverance has collected 18 samples so far at Jezero Crater, once the scene of a river delta. NASA plans to return these samples to Earth a decade from now. The helicopter Ingenuity has logged 36 flights, the longest lasting almost three minutes.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical InstituteB次元官网网址檚 Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
By Marcia Dunn
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
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