Hear the hum of NASA's Mars helicopter as it takes off.

Hear the hum of  NASA's Mars helicopter as it takes off 

The whirring sound of NASA's Ingenuity helicopter taking flight on Mars was shared by the space agency on Friday.

Amid the gusts and gales sweeping across Jezero Crater, the buzzing hum of Ingenuity's blades can be heard spinning in the thin atmosphere as it takes flight. The audio was synced up with Percy's video of the April 30 test flight. At 2,537 rotations per minute, it sounds kind of like a giant, alien bumblebee.

Perseverance's microphone is located on its SuperCam, which includes a laser that zaps targets from a distance in order to examine their composition. 

So far, Percy has captured a handful of Martian sounds that it has beamed back to Earth, including laser zaps, the sound of it driving, and the wind. The latest Ingenuity noises are the first that have been accompanied by video.

When Perseverance captured Ingenuity's fourth flight, it was 262 feet away. To make the sound stand out against the blowing wind, NASA isolated the noise from its blades and upped the volume a bit. Based on this sound alone, it sounds like Ingenuity is flying pretty smoothly.

Minus a couple of delays including a software update, Ingenuity's flights have exceeded expectations. After the fourth flight, NASA extended the helicopter's mission beyond its five test flights. Ingenuity's ability to cover long distances quickly demonstrate how it can be used in scouting operations for the Perseverance rover, which carries far more scientific instruments.

Comments

  1. Was it worth $88 million, to hear & see that?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, what would you have spent it on?

      Delete
  2. I'm no conspiracy theorist, but why didn't the helicopter create a shadow of itself in flight?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wish I could hear it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The actual sound of it humming through thin Martian air would have been a nice addition to the story.

      Delete
  4. You sure it wasn't April 1st... What a joke!
    As if, "You can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, and those are the ones you want to target" GW Bush..
    Missions to Mars...hahahahahaa
    You're better off searching for Klingons on URANUS

    ReplyDelete
  5. If it's such a bad condition on Mars, why is NASA wasting tons of money on it. Use the same money to make things right on Earth instead

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yes, but are you really this disinterested in the story that you have to revert back to voice acting?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Until a new technology is invented to replace it.
    (Canned laughter)

    ReplyDelete
  8. I think for the next one they should build some sort of insulated housing unit it can go into to keep warm until it's ready for flights.

    That's my professional armchair-scientist opinion.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Stay informed!