Does the Lander or the Rover have a microphone for recording sounds?
The answer is no. For this mission, it was not one of the scientific objectives to study atmospheric acoustics on Mars. Perhaps future missions that are sent to study the Martian atmosphere will have instruments for measuring sound. If such instruments were used, what are the things we could listen for? • The wheel motor sounds from the rover as it drives on the Martian soil. • Martian winds rushing by the rocks (eolian sounds). • Possible lightning strikes or discharges in the thin atmosphere. • Explosions from meteor impacts. • Eruption sounds from volcanic activity. • Atmospheric displacements due to Marsquakes. • Background acoustic noises caused by infrasonics. The atmospheric pressure on Mars is between 6 and 10 Torr (units of Torr are mm Hg @ 0C and 1 Torr = 1.33X10-3 bar), compared to 735.56 Torr (at sea level) for atmospheric pressure on Earth. Here are two equations that are frequently used to calculate sound levels. The first equation is for acoustic pressure levels and is e
