If a rock from space falls on the surface of Mars, what sound will it make? According to data from NASA’s InSight lander, the sound is “blop!” shaped. The seismometer on the device recorded a series of meteorites that fell to Mars in 2020 and 2021. These recordings were published in the journal Nature Geoscience. “This is not only the first impact detected by the spacecraft’s seismometers since 2018, but also the first time we have recorded both seismic and acoustic waves on Mars,” the scientists write in the paper.
The largest detection was made on September 6, 2021. InSight has detected a rock that fell to the Martian surface and broke into at least three pieces. All three left a crater-shaped mark on the surface of Mars. NASA’s orbiter Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) checked the impact points and detected the craters. Thus, the sources of the sound waves “heard” by the seismometers were determined.
NASA-JPL shared this determination made by InSight in September 2021 with the public in a video. You can watch the video below, you need to turn up your speakers to hear the crashing sound:
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