CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) – NASA’s latest Mars rover has sent back the very first sounds of driving on the red planet – a grinding, rattling, thumping affair that would be pretty concerning by Earth standards.
The sounds made by Perseverance’s six metal wheels and suspension during its first test drive two weeks ago, are part of a 16-minute raw audio feed released Wednesday by Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
“If I heard these noises driving in my car, I would stop and call a tug,” Dave Gruel, an engineer with the rover team, said in a written statement from NASA. “But if you take a moment to think about what you’re hearing and where it’s recorded, it makes perfect sense.”
Perseverance – the largest, most advanced rover ever sent to Mars – landed near an ancient river delta on Feb. 18 to look for signs of past life. Samples will be taken from the most promising rocks for eventual return to Earth.
The rover has two microphones. One has already captured the sounds of wind and rock-zapping lasers, the other was intended to record the descent and landing. This second microphone did not pick up any sounds of the rover’s arrival on Mars, but managed to record the first test drive on March 4.
The driving audio contains an unexpectedly high scratch noise, according to NASA. Engineers are trying to figure it out.
Before drilling into rocks for core samples, Perseverance will drop off an experimental helicopter called Ingenuity. The helicopter will attempt to make the first powered, controlled flight on another planet sometime next month.
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