French-made device picks up sounds from Planet Mars
Sounds from the Planet Mars have been recorded by a French-made seismometer aboard the Nasa InSight Mars Lander probe, which scientists say may help us understand more about the planet itself.
The seismometer, known (Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure), is one of the main instruments on board the InSight probe.
It was designed and constructed in France with French space agency Centre National d'脡tudes Spatiales (CNES), in partnership with Switzerland, Germany, the UK, and the USA.
The lander - officially named Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) and created by US aerospace and defence company Lockheed Martin - launched on May 5, 2018 and landed on Mars on November 26, 2018, having travelled 483 million kilometres.
The SEIS's main function is to measure seismic activity on Mars, to find out more about the planet and its behaviour, and help scientists understand more about how planets and moons evolve.
The first tremor from Mars the 128th day of the mission, on April 6, 2019. The second 鈥渕ajor鈥� tremor was recorded on May 22, on the 178th day. The third major tremor was picked up on July 25.
The tremor vibrations were signals that human ears can hear - including speeding the recording up considerably.
The device also picks up noises from wind, the movement of its own robotic arm, and friction - leading to an unearthly array of sounds from the Red Planet.
Inventor and of the device, and researcher at the physics research group l鈥橧nstitut de Physique du Globe in Paris (IPGP), Philippe Lognonn茅, : 鈥淲e have detected around a dozen tremors from Mars, including three that are strongest, of which analysis has been very enlightening on the internal structure of the planet.鈥�
Full analysis of the tremors has not yet been published, but Nasa has said in a press release that early interpretations suggest that Mars appears to have both Earth- and Moon-like elements, with fractures that give off seismic readings.
