Scientists measure the speed of sound on Mars

Based on data collected by NASA robots, scientists estimate that sound travels on Mars at a speed of about 864km/h.

An international team of researchers analyzed the sound collected by the Perseverance robot (NASA) and determined the speed of sound on Mars. Baptiste Chide, an expert at Los Alamos National Laboratory (USA), presents the team's findings at the 53rd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference taking place March 7-11 in Texas. .

Mars Robot Perseverance with Ingenuity Helicopter.

Perseverance landed on the surface of Mars more than a year ago. Since then, this robot has studied the surrounding landscape with a series of cameras and sensors. Perseverance also has a microphone that allows it to record and send back to Earth the sounds heard on the red planet. In the new study, experts analyzed these sounds to find useful information.

The team used data from the microphone to measure the speed of sound on Mars. Specifically, they measured the time it took for the sound emitted by Perseverance's laser to return to the robot's microphone. This robot shoots lasers at rocks to learn about their composition.

Scientists have noticed that sound travels on Mars at about 864km/h. However, they also found that different frequencies of sound travel at different speeds. The speed increases about 36km/h at the upper threshold of 400 Hz. This suggests that communication on Mars will be extremely difficult because parts of speech reach the listener at different times, making the conversation messy.

The microphone also helps measure the Martian surface temperature around the robot, Chide said. This is because sound travels at different speeds depending on temperature. By measuring the speed of sound each time Perseverance fired the laser, the researchers were able to calculate the rapid change in temperature.

The team intends to continue monitoring and analyzing the Martian sound for a year to learn more about changes in different conditions on the red planet, for example during winter or when dust storms occur. appear.