"Ever heard Bach, on Mars?"

Why don't the rovers that we send to Mars use their microphones? Could sound be heard on another planet?

What would a concert on Mars or Venus sound like? This intriguing question was explored with two scientists in a recent interview with Ari Daniel ShapiroIn "The World," Dr. Tim Leighton, professor of acoustics at Southampton University, remarks:

"All of the space probes that have been launched to explore the solar system have been able to see with cameras ... but are deaf. They have not been equipped with microphones."
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It has been proven that sound waves can travel in space but what of them traveling in Mars's atmosphere?

The atmosphere of Mars is quite different from that of Earth. It is composed primarily of carbon dioxide with small amounts of other gases. The six most common components of the atmosphere are:

Carbon Dioxide (CO2): 95.32%
Nitrogen (N2): 2.7%
Argon (Ar): 1.6%
Oxygen (O2): 0.13%
Water (H2O): 0.03%
Neon (Ne): 0.00025 %

Would this environment host sound waves and if so why hasn't NASA ever used any equipted sound recording devices,despite the factor of energy concerns which could most likeley be overcome, or have they and just decided not to release any of the findings to the public? What do we have here folks is this simply an imposability? or a fact that has been covered up, you decide and as always opinions welcome.
Sources:
www.space.com...
www.space.com...
www.solarviews.com...

[edit on 26-12-2008 by alyosha1981]

Very interesting#!!!!!!!

Upuntill this post I never thought of sound lol "to many space movies"

But why dont we get sound??? its a planet!!! "ie not in space"

hmm!! Wouldnt mind hearing the wind blowing on mars!!!!

VERY interesting!! S+f

Thats a great question, why no sound from mars? I know there is no sound in the vacuum of space but with a sustainable atmosphere like Mars' there should be sound.

Thanks for the input, now here is something I found to be very thought provoking,

Many artists have depicted scenes in outer space on a variety of media - almost entirely visual. Leighton looked at a painting of a methane "waterfall" commissioned by NASA and wondered what it would sound like.

What a cool thought I mean what would a methane "waterfall sound like on mars? my brain's wrapped with this one I can't even fathom what the veriations of sound might actually "sound like" what a cool thought and I hope you all enjoy it too!

What Does A Waterfall Sound Like In Space? [The answer to this fascinating question may be found on Titan, Saturn’s largest moon. University of Southampton scientist Professor Tim Leighton has speculated how the sound of splashing liquid in deep space might differ to that heard on Earth - and it’s possible that his theory could be proved later this year by NASA’s Cassini mission to Saturn. In the meantime, he has recreated the sound he believes it makes and put it on the Internet.

www.isvr.soton.ac.uk...
www.space.com...
Edit to add link from which quoted text was copied.
Edit to add link.
[edit on 26-12-2008 by alyosha1981]

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(bbcode)

[edit on Sun Dec 28 2008 by Jbird]

"All of the space probes that have been launched to explore the solar system have been able to see with cameras ... but are deaf. They have not been equipped with microphones."

That is not really true.

Phoenix had a microphone (although not very sensitive) and Mars Polar Lander (that was lost) had a sensitive microphone to listen to sounds on Mars' surface, so this is not a new idea.

reply to post by ArMaP


I know that phoenix had a microphone, they never used it!! thats the point of the thread.

[edit on 26-12-2008 by alyosha1981]

reply to post by alyosha1981


OK, re-reading your Opening Post, I see that you wrote "Why don't the rovers that we send to Mars use their microphones?".

The Rovers do not have microphones, Phoenix has a microphone but it's not a rover, Mars Polar Lander was not a rover and it had a microphone good enough (or so the creators think) to catch the sounds on Mars, so, answering your direct question, the rovers do not have microphones, so we cannot use them, if that was your point.

But if your point was to show that there hasn't been any probe sent to Mars with a microphone (like the text you quoted says), then it's not true, and that was the point of my post.

google Mars sounds, plenty of sites.

the mics that were sent seem to be inadequate for the job, such as, using something akin to a cell phone mic.

Originally posted by ArMaP

"All of the space probes that have been launched to explore the solar system have been able to see with cameras ... but are deaf. They have not been equipped with microphones."

That is not really true.

Phoenix had a microphone (although not very sensitive) and Mars Polar Lander (that was lost) had a sensitive microphone to listen to sounds on Mars' surface, so this is not a new idea.

When we were listening for gamma bursts did it actually have a microphone or just equipment to measure the frequencies?

www.foxnews.com...

this is what they had for a mic.

hopefully they will upgrade the mic for next mission?

[edit on 26-12-2008 by fooks]

reply to post by ArMaP


Fair enough I was trying to point out how the "probes" or devices we placed on the martian surface were never used to record sound waves, is all and I don't know about "seeing" gamma waves in in fact that would be a measure of sound still checking.

reply to post by fooks


Ok so I did Google search for that but I'm still coming up with the pre turning on of the equiptment and am unable to find any actual recordings that being said does anybody know any sites with them?(links please) I'm trying to connect the lack of recordings to another of NASA's censoring accomplishments, I mean really I think the equiptment was fine they either didn't turn it on or they did but didn't release any findings.

reply to post by alyosha1981


The only thing I can find is this page from ESA, but from what they say I cannot be sure.

they didn't turn it on because it would have damaged the lander/rover. i have to look it up.

the other was lost, that's why there are no sound clips.

i can find a site that had been set up for listening to mars. i will post it.

now giving that the sound would travel on mars like sound at 100,000 ft here on earth, i think the equipment would have to be more sensitive than a cell phone type mic.

what i am thinking is something like vlf receiver in the ground also.
sound probably travels farther in rock on mars than air?

please forgive my clumsiness in posting links/quotes etc.

here is the listening site,
sprg.ssl.berkeley.edu...

this is the sound from the decent of phoenix,

www.space.com...

how sound would sound,

www.space.com...

thanks for starting this thread, alyosha, i wondered why there was no mention of sounds on mars myself.
seems like it would be a no-brainer, sending something to look around another planet!
[edit on 26-12-2008 by fooks]

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[edit on 26-12-2008 by fooks]

www.planetary.org...

a little more tech related.

not so tech,

www.msnbc.msn.com...

[edit on 26-12-2008 by fooks]

man...i never even thought about this before. I am going to look into this