These are not inexplicable and “mysterious” sounds from the surface of Mars.
This is simply the sound of the Perseverance rover driving slowly over the rugged and alien Martian landscape. But there are not many other examples of sound recordings from other planets, and Nasa has released a number of recordings.
What we hear are squeaks and metallic sounds from the wheels and suspension on the rover. It is the size of a car, but it has not driven far since it landed on Mars about a month ago.
Since the wheels are made of metal, not rubber, the rover is actually a very noisy machine, according to the space agency. But as far as we know, no one is bothered by the noise on Mars.
–
The sound is picked up by a fairly ordinary microphone mounted on the rover.
You can also hear a buzzing sound on the audio file. These may be interference from some of the other components on the rover, which are interfering with the microphone, but Nasa is not sure what it is.
But most of what you hear is the wheels and the suspension that interact with the surface. The rover has six wheels made of aluminum, with spokes of titanium, which also acts as suspension. Each wheel has its own electric motor.
The arms on which the wheels sit are made of titanium tubes, and the suspension has enough mobility to be able to drive over 40 cm high stones, according to Nasa. The rover must take it very carefully over the surface of Mars, since a rollover or other accident could end the mission.
This is what the rover looked like before it was sent into space on its way to Mars. Here you can see the wheels and suspension system. Photo: Nasa
—-
No speed
But it is not built for speed. It has an absolute maximum speed of 152 meters per hour.
It has now covered less than 0.1 kilometers, according to Nasa’s overview page (March 18). So far, the rover has been through tests, and a few weeks ago it took its first, small ride. The sounds are from the first rides.
On March 5, Perseverance took a four-meter ride of about 33 minutes. It made several maneuvers, and ended up at about 6.5 meters driven that day. Since then, it has tested the robot arm, and several other systems on board.
These rovers are not built to drive far. The sister rover Curiosity, which has been on Mars since 2012, has traveled a total of almost 25 kilometers. The you can read more about at ung.forskning.no.
(This article was first published on Forskning.no).
– .
