JPL’s Perseverance Mars Rover Records Sound In Deep Space

NASA is reporting that a microphone aboard its Mars 2020 Perseverance rover, built and managed by Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, has recorded the sounds of the spacecraft as it hurtles through interplanetary space.

While another microphone aboard the rover is intended specifically to listen for the laser zaps of the SuperCam instrument, this one is devoted to capturing some or all of the entry, descent, and landing (EDL) sequence – from the firing of the mortar that releases the parachute to the Mars landing engines kicking in, to the rover wheels crunching down onto the surface, NASA states.

Data for the 60-second audio file was collected on Oct. 19 during an in-flight checkout of the camera and microphone system that will pick up some of the landing drama at Mars’ Jezero Crater early next year.

NASA · Perseverance Rover’s Interplanetary Sounds

The subdued whirring you hear is from the rover’s heat rejection fluid pump. Located at the rear-starboard side of the Perseverance, the pump is part of the rover’s thermal system, which will help maintain operational temperatures for vehicle components on even the coldest of winter nights.

It does its job by circulating fluid through a heat exchanger mounted adjacent to the always-toasty Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator and then into a network of tubes spread throughout the rover’s chassis.

“With apologies to the person who came up with the slogan for ‘Alien,’ I guess you could say that in space no one may be able to hear you scream, but they can hear your heat rejection fluid pump,” said Dave Gruel, lead engineer for Mars 2020’s EDL Camera and Microphone subsystem. “The microphone we included to hear what it’s like to land on Mars was actually able to pick up Perseverance’s thermal system operating in the vacuum of space through mechanical vibration.”

NASA · Perseverance Rover’s Interplanetary Sounds

The subdued whirring you hear is from the rover’s heat rejection fluid pump. Located at the rear-starboard side of the Perseverance, the pump is part of the rover’s thermal system, which will help maintain operational temperatures for vehicle components on even the coldest of winter nights.

It does its job by circulating fluid through a heat exchanger mounted adjacent to the always-toasty Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator and then into a network of tubes spread throughout the rover’s chassis.

The vacuum of space is a less-than-optimal environment for auditory transmissions. But sound can find another way. Sound waves can travel through solid objects. When these mechanical vibrations are registered by an electrical component, they sometimes are turned into an electrical signal.
The sound file was processed by DPA Microphones of Alleroed, Denmark, which manufactured the EDL microphone hardware flying on Mars 2020.

The EDL microphone was not tailor-made for this mission – or space exploration – and the team does not know quite what to expect from their sound files of landing day.

“Getting sound from landing is a nice-to-have, not a need-to-have,” said Gruel. “If it doesn’t happen, it will not impede the rover’s mission of discovery at Jezero Crater one bit. If even a portion of the landing sequence is captured on audio, that would be awesome.”

Perseverance is traveling to the Red Planet with the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter. Together, they will enter the Martian atmosphere at 12:47 p.m. Pacific Time Feb. 18, and touch down at Jezero Crater 410 seconds later.

To hear other space sounds, visit https://soundcloud.com/nasa.