What do the other planets in our solar system sound like?
Ever since we started exploring the solar system in the 1960s,
we have photographed every main planet and many of their fascinating moons,
capturing their spectacular features as we strive to further understand the Cosmo.
Some of our spacecraft have also descended to the surface of these
worlds, allowing us to see their bizarre landscapes up close for the first time.
But what about our other senses? What does it sound like after our
probes have landed on these mysterious worlds?
This type of data is far rarer than you might think because
only a handful of spacecraft have ever been fitted with a microphone.
Allowing us to experience what it sounds like on the surface of other planets and a moons.
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The first audio clip we will listen to was also
the first time the sound from the surface of another planet had ever been recorded.
Back in 1981, the Soviet space program launched two identical spacecraft, Venera 13 and Venera 14.
Launched just a few days apart, the objective of the mission was to
study the dense atmosphere and mysterious surface of our shrouded neighbour, Venus.
Among many scientific instruments, the probes were also equipped with microphones
that were designed to record atmospheric wind noises in an effort to measure wind speed.
Unfortunately, due to the Soviet space program's secrecy at the time, a lot of the data it seems, is unavailable online.
However, the Venera 14 sound recording is available,
allowing us to listen to the historic moment the ambitious probe landed and
captured for the first time the eerie sounds that surrounded it.
What you are about to listen to is an audio recording from one of
the most deadly environments in the solar system.
With scorching temperatures and crushing atmospheric pressures,
the surface of Venus is truly a hellish place to explore.
The next audio recording we will listen to wasn't actually captured from the surface of a planet,
but instead from the surface of Saturn's giant moon, Titan,
which is strangely more Earth-like than most of the planets in our solar system.
In 2005, a probe carried by the Cassini Spacecraft,
named Huygens began plummeting through the thick clouds of Titan.
At the time, no one knew what to expect as Huygens
began its treacherous journey into the moon's hazy atmosphere.
Would it plunge into an ocean of liquid methane? Crash into jagged ice mountains?
Or perhaps sink into a pit of frozen hydrocarbon quicksand. What could
be found below these opaque clouds was largely a mystery.
But before Huygens began to study the moon's icy surface,
it first collected data from the atmosphere during its long two-hour and 27-minute descent.
Including a sound recording as it plummeted through the clouds.
Then as it landed on a frozen, pebble-strewn surface, you will hear a much calmer, environment.
What you are about to listen to is an audio recording from
a frozen world covered in a thick haze that is orbiting a gas giant planet.
This is the bizarre environment of Saturn's largest moon, Titan.
The final sound recording we can listen to comes from the surface of our red neighbour Mars.
You would think that considering we have launched dozens of missions to Mars,
more than any other planet in the solar system in fact, we would have plenty of
sound recordings from its surface. But unfortunately, that is not the case.
Almost all attempts to send a microphone to Mars have failed
over the years, including the Mars Polar Lander which crashed in 1999.
But in 2021, the Perseverance rover successfully landed and
two of its scientific instruments are microphones.
Allowing us to finally listen to the surface
of Mars as if they were there standing upon its red sands.
What you are about to hear, is the rumble of otherworldly wind
and even a dust devil blowing across the dry desert world that is Mars.
Although we have landed on other worlds, such as the moon many times, some asteroids
and even a comet, these objects do not have atmospheres or at least they are very thin,
and so they have no medium for sound waves to travel through as Venus, Mars or Titan do.
You may think that these audio records are familiar,
as we have all heard the sound of wind blowing past our ears here on Earth.
But what you just listened to is not Earth, it was captured
from the surface of an entirely different world, a worlds that has its own history.
Titan for example is a frozen moon,
yet has lakes and seas of liquid methane flowing across its surface.
Venus is shrouded in an acidic atmosphere that is so thick and so hot that our space
probes can only last a matter of minutes before being destroyed.
And Mars is a dry desert world, covered in red dust that sometimes can engulf
the entire planet in a sandstorm unlike anything ever seen on Earth.
These are truly alien worlds, and we have not only seen their surfaces,
but we have also heard them as well.
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If you want to explore the universe even further why not click on this video.
Thanks for watching and I'll see you next time!