NASA captures the first ‘dust devil’ on Mars after hitting the jackpot

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Naomi Murdoch, a planetary researcher at France’s ISAE-SUPAERO space institute where the SuperCam microphone was designed, told AFP her team “hit the jackpot” when the rover’s microphone picked up the noise from the dust devil.

Researchers hope the recording will help better understand the weather and climate on Mars, including how its barren surface and thin atmosphere might one day support life.

Mrs. Murdoch said, “We hear the wind associated with the dust devil, the moment he arrives, and then nothing because we are in the eye of the whirlpool.”

She added that the sound then returns “when the microphone passes through the second wall” of the dust devil.

She said the impact of the dust created “tack-tock” sounds that would allow researchers to count the number of particles to study the whirlwind’s structure and behaviour.

It sounds strikingly similar to dust devils on Earth, though it’s quieter because the thin atmosphere on Mars makes sounds more muffled and winds less strong, according to the researchers.

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