NASA’s InSight Mission capturing the strange sounds from Mars including the sound of quakes, winds and other vibrations.
Mars is full of mysteries. One of its mysteries is to produce strange sounds from different activities on its surface. But thanks to NASA’s InSight Mission we are able to capture and hear those sounds on earth.
InSight’s stationary probe seismometer, the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure, is sensitive enough to pick up the most gentle of vibrations.
The seismometer is listening out for sounds of quakes on Mars. Seismic activity can help understand the interior of a planet and explain how it was formed. This is one of InSight’s main objectives for Mars.
It’s a seismic signal that was recorded on April 6, and by the indications, the InSight team believes this sound is a quake from within the Mars. The planet doesn’t have tectonic plates, which is the cause of earthquakes.
Martian quakes are caused by cooling and contraction, which create stress fractures on the crust.
Mars has a cratered surface, which allows quakes to persist for even a minute. On Earth, quakes last for seconds only.
NASA’s InSight Mission also picked up the sound of wind on Mars in the last December.
Night comes with peculiar sounds. The InSight researchers call them “dinks and donks” — the expansion and contraction of parts inside the seismometer, possibly due to heat loss.
