Humankind sent a drone (well, a robotic lander) to Mars, and now it appears that Mars is sending a drone back at us. That "drone" is actually a low humming sound that has been picked up by NASA's InSight lander, which touched down on the red planet in November 2018.
While taking readings meant to help us understand what geological activity is occurring on Mars, the lander also picked up an unexplained hum -- a seismic signal -- that continues without pause. The hum sounds off at 2.4 hertz, which is considerably higher than Earth's natural sounds, like waves crashing on ocean shores.
While there is a lot of seismic activity on Mars and winds that tear across the mostly barren planet at incredible speeds, scientists do not necessarily think they are causing the hum. "It’s extremely puzzling," said Bruce Banerdt, the principal investigator of the NASA mission. "We have no consensus idea what this is."
The lander is situated in an ancient crater filled with sand and dust, and since reaching the surface, it has picked up hundreds of readings of "marsquakes." Mars is cooling at a very fast rate, and as it cools and contracts, quakes are common. All of the data is helping NASA get a clearer picture of Earth's neighbor.
"It’s just super exciting that we see some of these things, and that we are trying to understand Mars," said Suzanne Smrekar, deputy principal investigator of the mission.
More on Mars:
- Although no water has been found on Mars, the planet contains channels in rock that scientists say could only have been formed by water at some time in the past.
- Mars currently has two moons, Phobos and Deimos, although Phobos is expected to be pulled into the planet and destroyed within the next 50 million years.
- Mars is called the "red planet" because its terrain is covered by iron-rich dust, which appears red.