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Sounds of Mars: NASA lander sends back audio of the Martian wind

NASA's InSight lander has captured the noises of wind on Mars.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA's InSight mission, on track for a Nov. 26 touchdown on Mars, will look for tectonic activity and meteorite impacts on the Red Planet, study how much heat is still flowing through the planet, and track the planet's wobble as it orbits the sun.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - NASA's new Mars lander has captured the first sounds of the Martian wind.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory released audio clips of the alien wind Friday. The low-frequency rumblings were collected by the InSight lander during its first week-and-a-half of operations at Mars.

Scientists agree the sound has an otherworldly quality to it, and they feel as though they're sitting on the spacecraft, enjoying the Martian breeze.

The noise is of the wind blowing against InSight's solar panels and the resulting vibration of the entire spacecraft. The sounds were recorded by an air pressure sensor inside the lander that's part of a weather station, as well as the seismometer on the deck of the spacecraft.

InSight landed on Mars on Nov. 26.

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