Mars rover Perseverance makes first sound recording of Martian dust deluge

Mars rover Perseverance has made the first sound recording of a dust devil on the red planet. This weather phenomenon, which also occurs on Earth, has been seen before on Mars, but its sound has never been recorded before.

The recording was made with the SuperCam Microphone, one of Perseverance’s two microphones. The microphone used is part of the mast and it SuperCam instrument. During the recording of the sound, the navigation camera captured images, while the Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer detected the drop in pressure. The audio recording also includes clips of dust particles hitting the rover.

Dust spouts in themselves are not very special for Mars. They have been spotted from space before, and almost every Mars rover has encountered them during operations on the red planet. The rovers Spirit and Opportunity even benefited greatly from it. They were able to extend their lifespan by several years because dust spouts occasionally ‘cleaned’ their solar panels, allowing sufficient power to be generated again.