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NASA: This is the strange sound of a meteor hitting Mars


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NASA has released an audio clip that captures the sound of space rocks hitting the Red Planet captured by the Mars Insight lander’s seismometer.

Instead of a crash or an explosion, the sound of meteors hitting Mars is like a “bloop”unlike part of the Skype ringtone, that happens first when the meteorite enters the atmosphere of Mars, then when it explodes into pieces and finally impacts the surface.

The sound was recorded by Insight as a meteor hit Mars on September 5, 2021. This is the first of four confirmed meteors between 2020 and 2021 that InSight’s seismometer has detected. detected since landing in 2018.

Also: NASA’s Perseverance rover continues the hunt for ancient life on Mars

This is from NASA explanation for space rocks that make the “bloop” sound: “After sunset, the atmosphere retains some of the heat accumulated during the day. Sound waves travel through this heated atmosphere with the At different speeds, depending on their frequency, the result is a lower-pitched sound arriving where it was before a high-pitched sound An observer near the impact would hear a “bang”, while People many miles away will hear the bass sound first, creating a “bang”.

InSight detects seismic and sound waves from 53 to 180 miles (85 and 290 km) away. The lander is located in a region of Mars called Elysium Planitia.

Scientists call space rocks ‘meteorites’ before they hit the ground and ‘meteorites’ after they hit the ground.

NASA scientists are using seismic and sonar data from InSight to locate newly formed craters on Mars.

“We analyzed the arrival times and polarizations of the seismic and acoustic waves to estimate the location of the impact, which was then confirmed by orbital imaging of the craters involved,” an international team of researchers notes in a new paper in Nature Geoscience.

After estimating the impact location, NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter flew over the location to confirm the spots and take close-up images of the craters using the HiRISE (Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) camera. High Prize).

InSight now has nearly four years of seismic data that scientists plan to uncover – using newly confirmed seismic signatures – for other impact events that could be obscured by noise from the wind or by seasonal changes in the atmosphere.

Scientists are using Mars to study the planet’s crust, mantle, and core. Four meteorite impacts have been confirmed of magnitude less than 2.0, just enough to examine the crust of Mars. A magnitude 5 earthquake, as happened in May 2022, could also reveal details of the mantle and deeper core.

The French space agency, Center National d’Études Spatiales, supplied InSight’s seismometer. It is capable of detecting seismic waves from thousands of miles away.

Also: NASA is sending a spacecraft to smash into an asteroid

The main author of the article, Raphael Garcia of the Institut Supérieur de l’Aéronautique et de l’Espace in Toulouse, France, explains that meteorite impacts help determine the age of the Martian surface. Essentially, the more craters are observed, the older the surface becomes.

“Impacts are the clock of the solar system,” said Garcia. “We need to know today’s impact rate to estimate the age of different surfaces.”

“We are learning more about the impact process,” says Garcia. “We were able to match different sizes of craters to specific seismic and acoustic waves.”

Scientists are running out of time to use InSight because dust accumulated on its solar panels reduces power. Engineers believe the lander could be decommissioned between October and January 2023.



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