'Ears' for rover Perseverance's exploration of Mars

Date:
April 5, 2022
Source:
Purdue University
Summary:
Scientists have built instruments to give humans eyes and a nose
on Mars -- and now they are helping add ears as well.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
For two decades, Roger Wiens has built instruments to give humans eyes
and a nose on Mars -- and now he's helping add ears as well.


========================================================================== Wiens, a professor of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences in
the College of Science at Purdue University, and an expert in Mars
robotics technology, led the team that built SuperCam, a device on the Perseverance Mars rover that includes a laser for zapping rocks as well
as the microphone that brought the first recordings of Mars to Earth.

"When I was at Los Alamos National Laboratory, I started looking around
to see if there were any Department of Energy technologies that we
might be able to harness and use for planetary science, and that's where Curiosity's ChemCam, which later evolved into Perseverance's SuperCam,
came from," Wiens said.

SuperCam incorporates a technology that uses a pulsed laser beam to
pulverize tiny bits of rock samples up to 30 feet away. The instrument
collects the light from the brief flash emitted in the process, allowing scientists to analyze rocks that its arm can't reach and to "see" and
analyze samples even through Mars dust that coats the rocks.

In incorporating the microphone into SuperCam, Wiens and his collaborators
have opened up opportunities for a range of science and research on
the Martian surface that was never possible before, including helping
analyze rock and recording sounds.

"When we zap these rocks, we can find out more about their hardness and composition by listening to the change in sound as a number of laser
shots get fired into the rock in the same spots," Wiens said. "We can
hear the helicopter Ingenuity, which is something we didn't expect to be
able to hear. We can hear the wind and measure the speed and direction,
as well as measure the size and speed of dust devils. We can listen to
the rover's own sounds and monitor health and safety the same way you
gauge your car's well-being by listening to the motor. Things sound
different on Earth because the rover's ears are shaped different from
ours and the atmosphere is so different, but we're making recordings
and learning things every other day."

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Purdue_University. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
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D. Vogt, P. Willis.

In situ recording of Mars soundscape. Nature, 2022; DOI:
10.1038/s41586- 022-04679-0 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/04/220405123935.htm

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