US space agency NASA has unveiled a new digital experience that may allow one to hear how various noises, including the sound of one’s own voice, would sound on Mars.
As NASA explains on their website, the difference in the way sound travels on Mars and on Earth stems from the difference between the two planets’ atmospheres.
For example, since it is much colder on Mars, the speed of sound there is only around 240 meters per second, as compared to 340 meters per second on Earth.
Also, since the Martian atmosphere is less dense than Earth’s atmosphere, one has to be “much closer to the source of a sound to hear it at the same volume” as they would on Earth.
And finally, since the Martian atmosphere is mostly comprised of carbon dioxide, it would “absorb a lot of higher-pitched sounds, so only lower-pitched sounds would travel long distances,” the space agency notes.
The new digital experience was produced by NASA’s Perseverance mission team responsible for the space agency’s rover, which has been exploring the red planet for over a year now and has two onboard microphones that have been used to capture “the actual sounds of Mars.”