Muir, Hazel (2007) Sounds in space. New Scientist, 195 (2616), 28-32. (doi:10.1016/S0262-4079(07)62031-4).
Abstract
If we care to listen, we'd discover the planets and moons of the solar system are shouting their secrets for all to hear.
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WHEN NASA's Spirit rover touched down on the vast floor of a Martian crater in January 2004, the space agency really did have something to celebrate. For the first time in history, a robot was viewing an alien world in the same exquisite detail that a person would enjoy. Since then, the panoramic cameras on Spirit and its twin, Opportunity, have gazed around the Red Planet like human eyes with 20/20 vision.
So it might sound churlish to point out that the rovers are both as deaf as a post. Like the vast majority of spacecraft sent to other worlds, neither carries a microphone. They are oblivious to the soundscape of Mars. They can't hear the buzz of grit whirling around in dust devils, the rumbles of Martian thunder, or even the noise of their own wheels crunching across the dusty plains.
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