Scientists analyzed the speed of sound on Mars

Analyzing the data collected by the Perseverance rover, an international team of researchers was able to determine the speed of sound on Mars. This was discussed at the 53rd Conference on the Moon and Planetary Sciences in early March.

Mars. Source: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Scientists analyzed Perseverance microphone recordings to determine the speed of sound on Mars. It managed to record clicks that occur when the laser blasts installed on board the rover vaporize rocks (this is necessary to determine their chemical composition). During the subsequent analysis, the researchers determined that the speed of sound at the surface of the Red Planet is approximately 240 m/s. For comparison, the speed of sound in terrestrial air at sea level is approximately 330 m/s. 

But it’s not that simple. Scientists also found that different frequencies of sound travel at different speeds on Mars. In particular, the speed increases by approximately 10 m/s above 400 Hz. This finding suggests that communication would be extremely difficult on Mars with different parts of speech arriving to listeners at different times, making conversations sound garbled. 

It is also worth noting that the Perseverance microphone data also helped to measure temperature differences both on the surface of Mars and inside the rover. This is because sound travels at different speeds depending on temperature. According to scientists, in the future they plan to continue monitoring to learn more about temperature fluctuations during such significant events as the Martian winter and dust storms.

You can also read about the preparation of the Perseverance rover for a record-breaking race.

According to https://phys.org