Product News
2021/02/25
NASA’s Mars Perseverance Rover uses the DPA microphone to send the first sound of Mars
Last week, after months of rigorous space travel, the Perseverance Rover touched down on the surface of Mars. On board was a DPA 4006 Omnidirectional Microphone, MMA-A Digital Audio Interface and MMP-G Modular Active Cable. After the rover touched down, audio and video files were recorded from the surface and transmitted to NASA’s base station.
NASA sent these files to DPA’s engineering team for processing and now, following several days of review, you can hear what this incredibly durable mic solution captured from the surface.
A microphone attached to the rover did not collect usable data during the descent, but the commercial off-the-shelf device survived the highly dynamic descent to the surface and obtained sounds from Jezero Crater on Feb. 20. About 10 seconds into the 60-second recording, a Martian breeze is audible for a few seconds, as are mechanical sounds of the rover operating on the surface.
Click the picture below to Audiovisual:
A microphone attached to the rover did not collect usable data during the descent, but the commercial off-the-shelf device survived the highly dynamic descent to the surface and obtained sounds from Jezero Crater on Feb. 20. About 10 seconds into the 60-second recording, a Martian breeze is audible for a few seconds, as are mechanical sounds of the rover operating on the surface.
Click the picture below to Audiovisual:
“Everything about the mission — from the launch to the landing — is hostile, insofar as a microphone is generally concerned. It’s very exciting to know that DPA was able to record something from so many millions of miles away, and have the sound travel back to us so quickly."
– René Mørch, product manager at DPA Microphones
You can read more about the landing using DPA microphones to capture audio on the NASA Mars website.