NASA's Mars Perseverance rover beams back first sounds ever recorded on another planet - CBS News

NASA's Perseverance rover, which landed on Mars less than one week ago, has beamed back the first-ever audio recordings from the surface of the red planet. .

NASA released the audio clips Monday, along with never-before-seen video footage of the rover landing last Thursday, and the most sophisticated images yet taken of Mars. .

One failed to work during the rover's descent, but the other captured the sounds of the Martian wind blowing past, as well as the whirring noise of the rover itself.

Mission team members said Monday that they hope to hear many more sounds from Mars, including wind, storms, falling rocks and the sound of Perseverance's wheels as it moves or its drill as it digs into the Martian surface. 

Now that you’ve seen Mars, hear it

Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, said the recordings are "the closest you can get to landing on Mars without putting on a pressure suit."

In 2018, NASA's Insight Mars lander unexpectedly picked up similar sounds of Martian wind vibrations using its air pressure sensor and seismometer

But, Perseverance has captured the real thing from Mars' surface, using "commercial off-the-shelf" microphones, specifically dedicated to picking up audio.