Mars rover sends again grinding, squealing sounds of driving

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s latest Mars rover has despatched again the first-ever sounds of driving on the pink planet — a grinding, clanking, banging affair that by Earth requirements can be fairly worrisome.

The noises made by Perseverance’s six metallic wheels and suspension on the primary take a look at drive two weeks in the past are a part of a 16-minute uncooked audio feed launched Wednesday by Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

“If I heard these sounds driving my automotive, I’d pull over and name for a tow,” Dave Gruel, an engineer on the rover workforce, mentioned in a written NASA assertion. “However for those who take a minute to contemplate what you’re listening to and the place it was recorded, it makes excellent sense.”

Perseverance — the largest, most superior rover ever despatched to Mars — landed close to an historical river delta on Feb. 18 to seek for indicators of previous life. Samples shall be taken from probably the most promising rocks for eventual return to Earth.

The rover carries two microphones. One already has captured the sounds of wind and rock-zapping lasers, the opposite was meant to report the descent and touchdown. This second mike did not choose up any sounds of the rover’s arrival at Mars, however managed to report the primary take a look at drive March 4.

The driving audio accommodates a sudden high-pitched scratching noise, in response to NASA. Engineers are attempting to determine it out.

Earlier than it begins drilling into rocks for core samples, Perseverance will drop off an experimental tag-along helicopter, named Ingenuity. The helicopter will try the primary powered, managed flight on one other planet someday subsequent month.

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