The rumbling of the wind sounds on Mars

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. to hear

a muffled 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-easterly direction.

recording was not planned

InSight on the 26. November on the Mars is placed. The landing was preceded by a nearly seven-month journey of the probe through space. 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.

one of the experimental devices on Board the landing platform with 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 the findings, among other things, 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 really sounds alien"

The scientist Thomas Pike, from Imperial College London, said, and the rumble 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 Betboo the records from the Mars, however, are already difficult 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 outer space, i.e. outside the atmosphere of a planet, there is no noise. There is perfect silence. (afp/kjan/csi)

Created: 08.12.2018, 18:43 PM