On November 26, NASA’s Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) lander successfully touched down on Mars. Though the probe’s main goal is to explore the planet’s interior, its sophisticated instruments are also offering a unique way to explore the Martian surface — by recording the sound of Martian wind.
The recordings capture the sounds of winds gusting through Elysium Planitia, InSight’s Martian home, at about 10–15 mph (16–24 kph) on December 1. Pressure changes generated by the moving air were picked up directly by InSight’s Auxiliary Payload Sensor Subsystem (APSS), which is designed to record meteorological data. “That’s literally what sound is — changes in air pressure,” said APSS science lead Don Banfield of Cornell University in a press release. “You hear that whenever you speak to someone across the room.”
The wind also rattled InSight’s two solar panels, each of which is about 7 feet ...
