NASA lander captures marsquakes, other Martian sounds
Tue., Oct. 1, 2019
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA’s InSight lander on Mars has captured the low rumble of marsquakes and a symphony of other otherworldly sounds.
Scientists released an audio sampling Tuesday. The sounds had to be enhanced for humans to hear.
InSight’s seismometer has detected more than 100 events, but only 21 are considered strong marsquake candidates. The rest could be marsquakes – or something else. The French seismometer is so sensitive it can hear the Martian wind as well as movements by the lander’s robot arm and other mechanical “dinks and donks” as the team calls them.
InSight arrived at Mars last November and recorded its first seismic rumbling in April.
A German drilling instrument, meanwhile, has been inactive for months. Scientists are trying to salvage the experiment designed to measure the planet’s internal temperature.
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