A microphone on the Perseverance rover captured eerie audio of a massive dust devil on Mars for the first time
Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. A towering whirlwind of dust passed right over the Perseverance rover as it explored the site of an ancient lake on Mars – and the rover recorded the first sounds of this Martian dust devil using its microphone. Dust devils, or dust whirlwinds, are common on Mars, and they’re part of the weather patterns on the red planet.
A planet-encircling dust storm is what ended the Opportunity rover’s 15-year mission in 2018. “Global dust storms are important for understanding the Martian climate,” Murdoch said. “The acoustic measurements of dust impacts and dust lifting will, therefore, improve our understanding of dust devils and will also help to improve Martian climate models. Understanding dust lifting is also critical for space missions due to the damage that can be caused to hardware.
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