They vaguely recall the creaking of a door, with rustling and metallic noises, the first sounds of driving a rover on Mars.
NASA's Perseverance rover recorded and sent them which, after listening to the wind from Mars and taking its first steps on the Red Planet, went in search of a new parking space in view of the flight of its travel companion Ingenuity, the drone helicopter which is a technological demonstrator with the task of verifying the possibility of practicing motorized flight on Mars.
If successful, this aircraft can pave the way for future missions to the planet with second generation helicopters.
The tracks of the Perseverance rover on Mars (source: NASA / JPL-Caltech)
In audio of just over a quarter of an hour, recorded on its 16th Martian day (Sol 16), the rover recorded the noises of maneuvers and six wheels as they roll over the Martian terrain.
In its first steps on Mars, Perseverance is calibrating its instruments.
Once fully operational, the NASA rover will be able to travel about 200 meters a day.
“When we look at the images sent from Mars, we don't think the rover has metal wheels.
And, while walking with these wheels on the rocks, the driving is very noisy, ”explained Vandi Verma, engineer and rover pilot at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Jpl).
The tracks of the Perseverance rover on Mars (source: NASA / JPL-Caltech)
Arriving on Martian soil on February 18, 2021, the goal of the Perseverance rover is to explore the subsoil of the Jezero crater, the basin of what was once an ancient lake, in search of traces of present or past life.
One of its tasks is to collect samples of the Martian soil, which will be brought to Earth in a decade.
