The space agency also released the same audio, but with reduced rover noise.

The persistence took home two microphones, one of which is on the SuperCam Scientific Instrument, a high-tech camera the size of a shoebox. This in particular can be used to analyze the noise produced when the SuperCam laser, designed by the French, hits the rock.

“We hope to continue using these microphones to capture sound,” said Dave Gruel, although their life expectancy is limited by the extreme temperatures on the surface of Mars.

Previous missions had actually attempted to send microphones to the Red Planet, never succeeding.

NASA’s Insight robot, which reached Mars in November 2018, recorded several seismic tremors, thanks to an ultra-sensitive seismometer, which people on Earth could hear. The frequency of vibrations was too low for the human ear; Hence, the recordings were processed and speeded up to be audible thanks to a technique known as “sonication”.

good health

“Perseverance is healthy,” said Jessica Samuels, who heads operations on Mars.

“We have fulfilled 5,000 applications,” she explained. “All of our tools have passed their initial validation tests and we are happy to report that they are all working as expected.”

In the coming days, perseverance will move for the first time, after which the test will continue.

The landing site, Jezero Crater, was the most dangerous of all, due to its terrain. But it is very interesting to scientists, because, in their opinion, about 3.5 billion years ago, it contained a deep lake in which a river flows.