back to article You can listen right here to the whir of a robot helicopter flying on an alien world

One of the microphones on Perseverance, NASA’s latest and greatest Mars rover, has recorded the sounds of its autonomous helicopter Ingenuity flying on the Red Planet, providing scientists with the first ever audio samples of an aircraft operating on another planet. You can hear the recording in the video below. Make sure to …

  1. Neil Barnes Silver badge
    Pint

    I am most impressed.

    Have many of these, guys! -->

  2. Giles C Silver badge

    Really impressive work, proper engineering in action

  3. Tom 7

    Turned everything up to 11

    and still couldn't hear it on the laptop. Will try it on headphones if I can find them.

    1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
      Happy

      Re: Turned everything up to 11

      If you listen really carefully, you can hear the Ride of the Valkyries coming out of the helicopter's speakers.

      1. jake Silver badge

        Re: Turned everything up to 11

        That would be Golden Earring's Radar Love, Shirley, followed immediately by Twilight Zone.

        Or perhaps the 9 minute live version of Frankenstein featuring both Winter brothers, recorded in Copenhagen(??) in ~1970 before the tune even had a name. Raw. Awesome. Find a copy. Listen to it. Really.

  4. DJV Silver badge

    Absolutely stunning!

    It sent a shiver down my spine knowing I was hearing sounds from another planet.

    1. Neil Barnes Silver badge
      Alien

      Re: Absolutely stunning!

      Ah, but did you catch the faint 'Danger, Will Robinson!' in the background?

      1. Zimmer
        Alien

        Re: Absolutely stunning!

        Never mind, 'Danger, Will Robinson !'..

        Wait until you hear "GET ORF MY LAWN!" then the problems will start.

  5. Martin
    Happy

    The idea of a little helicopter flying around on Mars is just so utterly charming. I can't help but smile every time I see the videos.

    It's lovely to see it take off, then move horizontally, bravely disappearing out of camera range, then waiting patiently - and there it is, back again, to where it started. You almost feel that it's proud of its achievement !

    1. Martin
      Happy

      OK, I was being a bit sentimental, I agree. But to be downvoted for that? Really?

      I hope you were just in a bad mood at that moment, and you're not normally such a grumpus!

  6. Pascal Monett Silver badge

    "Sounds below 80Hz and above 90Hz have been turned down in volume"

    Almost disappointed. I think I would prefer listening to the actual recording.

    Don't misunderstand me, this was another awesome video, but I would like to hear what is really happening, not just what NASA wants me to hear.

    The untouched audio is reality. This is great, but I prefer reality.

    1. GrumpenKraut

      Re: "Sounds below 80Hz and above 90Hz have been turned down in volume"

      I'd like to listen to the unfiltered track as well but suspect that you'd need to listen very carefully and have some quality speaker or better headphone.

      1. Andy Non Silver badge
        Coat

        Re: "Sounds below 80Hz and above 90Hz have been turned down in volume"

        Yes, but you'd probably need to adjust your audio settings to erm... filter sounds below 80 Hz and above 90 Hz. I'll get my cost.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: "Sounds below 80Hz and above 90Hz have been turned down in volume"

      I agree this is adds a new dimension to our experience of Mars.

      My concern is that we will only hear the fundamental component of the complex waveform without the harmonics, so it is bound to sound like a sine wave.

      What I really want to hear next is the Doppler shift as the helicopter does a close fly-by. Just hope that the resulting sound isn't beyond the limits of the filter.

    3. DS999 Silver badge

      Re: "Sounds below 80Hz and above 90Hz have been turned down in volume"

      Well it is pretty far away and the atmosphere is VERY thin. Maybe if they do a flight where it is only 20 feet away they won't need to filter out the background noise so much.

    4. Chris G
      Alien

      Re: "Sounds below 80Hz and above 90Hz have been turned down in volume"

      That's interesting, because the Martian police growlers on their cars are very low pitch and Martian voices are rarely lower pitched than about 100Hz.

      I suspect the filtering is due to the embarrassment at being nicked for parking and flying in a slither only zone, so soon after landing.

  7. Pen-y-gors

    Ho hum

    and its own machinery cranking away as it drives around the Jezero crater

    One of the nicest things about all the recent lockdowns, particularly the first one, has been the quiet. I've been able to sit outside in the sun, and listen to the wind in the trees, the birds, the stream, the animals - and minutes pass without any mechanical sounds at all. No cars, lorries, revving motorbikes, airliners, chain-saws, lawn-mowers, strimmers.

    So what do we do on this peaceful alien planet? Rev up the engines and rattle the machinery. Next off - sound of Perseverance doing a wheelie and handbrake turns. (Robotarm-brake turns?) The locals will be getting seriously pissed off.

    1. Graham Dawson Silver badge

      Re: Ho hum

      I'm sure that slowly and surely they're drawing their plans against us.

      1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

        Re: Ho hum

        Chances of that must be something approaching a million to one.

        1. Graham Dawson Silver badge

          Re: Ho hum

          And yet...

          1. Trigonoceps occipitalis

            Re: Ho hum

            There's a 99% that they'll come.

      2. Dr Kerfuffle

        Re: Ho hum

        Pah! - The chances of anything coming from Mars are a million to one.

        1. zuckzuckgo Silver badge

          Re: Ho hum

          and yet they hum.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Pint

    Breaking News!

    Ingenuity just completed its Fifth flight!

    It's now moved to a new 'airfield' and is waiting for Perseverance to catch up.

    Assuming this is successful, it will begin a new life as Perseverance's scout.

    1. Trigonoceps occipitalis

      Re: Breaking News!

      Real question, can the rover pick up the drone to move to another location?

      1. DS999 Silver badge

        Re: Breaking News!

        It can barely lift itself off the ground in Mars' thin atmosphere, it would be lucky to pick up anything that weighed more than a pebble.

        1. jake Silver badge

          Re: Breaking News!

          Might want to re-read the question, DS999.

          And the answer to Trigonoceps occipitalis is a simple "no". It's not designed for that, no general purpose grasping tool. Might be able to nudge it back onto it's feet if the wind manages to blow it over, though.

          1. Trigonoceps occipitalis

            Re: Breaking News!

            Thanks.

  9. Winkypop Silver badge
    Black Helicopters

    Great flight

    But they managed to lose the luggage

    1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

      Re: Great flight

      Don't worry. The luggage has already been delivered to Venus.

  10. Chris G

    No, the luggage is in a crater on the other side of Mars now.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Nothing there...

    It's doing naff all. It's the most pointless "making of history" in history!

    Actually, I do quite like how it's brought a bit of realism to Lunar Lander.

    1. Throatwarbler Mangrove Silver badge
      FAIL

      Re: Nothing there...

      To help ameliorate your depressing lack of imagination and tedious need to deprecate and disregard the titanic achievements of minds far greater than your own, give this a listen. (Not a rickroll, I promise.)

    2. jake Silver badge

      Re: Nothing there...

      PDNFTT

      1. Throatwarbler Mangrove Silver badge
        Paris Hilton

        Re: Nothing there...

        "PDNFTT"

        Can I psychologically abuse him?

        1. jake Silver badge
          Pint

          Re: Nothing there...

          You may do whatever you like ... all I am offering is free advice, which is worth exactly what you pay for it. However, may I remind you that a wise man once said "He who wrestles with a hog must expect to be spattered with filth".

          As you were. It's Sunday afternoon, may I recommend pints all around?

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Alien

            Re: Nothing there...

            He who wrestles with a hog must expect to be spattered with filth

            But it's best when they burst! Sadly it is not longer acceptable to bait even the most egregious of them in this way: it's sort of a bloodsport really, and it's right that we no longer do this.

            I do miss it though.

            1. jake Silver badge

              Re: Nothing there...

              See also Formosa's Law.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "Alien world"??? There aren't any aliens on Mars.

    Despite what you may have heard from centuries of fiction, Mars does not have alien life.

    And if there aren't any aliens, it is by definition not an alien world. It's just a hunk of rock with a thin, non-breathable atmosphere.

    1. Throatwarbler Mangrove Silver badge
      Headmaster

      In this case, the definition is:

      unlike one's own; strange; not belonging to one

      Go be wrong somewhere else.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Ah, but is a load of desolate nothing, a "world"?

        1. Throatwarbler Mangrove Silver badge
          Alien

          You mean the inside of your head? Hard to say. It's possible that something lives there, just not imagination, ideas, or wonder.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            world

            [ wurld ]

            See synonyms for world on Thesaurus.com

            noun

            - the earth or globe, considered as a planet.

            - (often initial capital letter) a particular division of the earth: the Western world.

            - the earth or a part of it, with its inhabitants, affairs, etc., during a particular period: the ancient world.

            - humankind; the human race; humanity: The world must eliminate war and poverty.

            - the public generally: The whole world knows it.

            - the class of persons devoted to the affairs, interests, or pursuits of this life: The world worships success.

            Looks like none of the definitions fit a barren lifeless rock with nothing on it.

            1. Avatar of They
              FAIL

              Erm.

              "Looks like none of the definitions fit a barren lifeless rock with nothing on it."

              We don't know what is on the barren lifeless rock, or if indeed it is barren or lifeless - beneath the surface or was in the past.

              Hence the curiosity and perseverance robot probes and all the history making achievements you seem to not care about.

              Thankfully there are people wanting to find out and dare to look above their own horizon (literally to another horizon)

            2. Anonymous Coward
              Alien

              world wəːld

              [...]

              another planet like the earth: the possibility of life on other worlds.

    2. jake Silver badge

      I'd hate to alienate you, or otherwise show you something alien to your current education, but the term "alien" doesn't mean "little green (grey, whatever) men, nor does it imply the existence of life. What it means in this context is strange or foreign. Both of which Mars is, at least compared to yer mum's basement.

      From the Latin alienus: of or belonging to another, not one's own.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Pirate

      Despite what you may have heard from centuries of fiction, Mars does not have alien life.

      Well, it's nice of you to let us all know from your position of no doubt vast (but, somehow, anonymous) wisdom. Perhaps it would have been kinder of you to tell NASA that before they spent a few billion dollars sending a rover there to look for signs of life.

  13. This post has been deleted by its author

    1. zuckzuckgo Silver badge

      Re: I went to a party.....

      I found the atmosphere breathtaking

  14. The Aussie Paradox
    Megaphone

    Please don't

    Please don't make the great unwashed masses aware of this recording. I can see the Twatter/Failbok comments now:

    "Hurrder, if it makes sounds there must be air! It was done in a recording studio. dah"

    "The planet is flat! It can't be real!"

    "The Bible says .... "

    etc. etc.

    I will see myself out...

  15. Dr Kerfuffle

    Duty Free on Mars ?

    What is the situation regarding duty free purchases while on Mars? I assume that as there is no tax authority or customs & excise there, that any purchases (such as booze or fags) would be supplied tax free. Although perhaps there might be duties to pay when you brought your purchase back to Earth?

    Paul

    1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
      Happy

      Re: Duty Free on Mars ?

      You're correct. There are no taxes. However, while the cigarettes and booze are incredibly cheap, postage and packing does sting a little...

      1. jake Silver badge

        Re: Duty Free on Mars ?

        And there are no hookers. Or cocaine.

    2. DanceMan

      Re: Duty Free on Mars ?

      or fags

      Tough to keep one lit with little or no oxygen.

      1. jake Silver badge

        Re: Duty Free on Mars ?

        That's what the Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment is for, Shirley.

        1. zuckzuckgo Silver badge

          Re: Duty Free on Mars ?

          Not just Shirley surely?

  16. Aussie Doc
    Pint

    Wow. Just wow.

    That is all. Many on the house and continue the great work ------------------>

  17. David Hicklin Bronze badge

    In Space no one can hear you scream

    see title

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