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[EN VIDÉO] How Perseverance listens to the sounds of planet Mars Since its arrival on Mars on February 18, 2021, the Perseverance rover has used two microphones to pick up the sounds surrounding the rover. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Irap currently have about 5 hours of audio recordings, available for listening on the internet.
For almost 25 years, the Cité de l’Espace has told and shown about space exploration, and in particular with the help of Cnes and theESA, the strong European, French and even Toulouse involvement in this adventure. replica ofAriadne 5a duplicate of the station Mir, a lunar exhibition, only Mars was missing among the essentials. From April 5, the public can see it.
This 900 m² crater houses an amphitheater that can accommodate more than 200 people to see two martian rovers roll and handle. Of course, these are not real rovers but very faithful and life-size robotic replicas. They will be managed by the brilliant Animation team of the Cité de l’Espace, even if the idea of making them autonomous is being studied for more flexibility. The rovers will be shown and piloted in front of the public during daily sessions recounting the Martian exploration for about thirty minutes.
The decor has been carefully prepared to make the experience as immersive as possible. This is ” Mars like in real life ! », specifies Christophe Chaffardon, director of Sciences, Education and Culture at the Cité de l’Espace. It must be admitted that the authors of this field have worked conscientiously in collaboration with scientific experts from Cnes and the Institute for Research in Astrophysics and Planetology (Irap). The rovers were also not chosen at random.
Toulouse, capital of Martian exploration in France
The arrival of a Martian terrain at the Cité de l’Espace in Toulouse is all that is most logical. The pink city is at the heart of the international collaboration led by Cnes to participate in the exploration of Mars. Among the scientific brains behind this long-term cooperation, Irap and more particularly the planetologist Sylvestre Maurice. He also spoke with passion about the science to be done on Mars with the rovers, between two laps under the assured piloting of Simon, scientific mediator to the City.
Sylvestre Maurice is at the origin and at the head of a long dynamic in Toulouse which has made it possible to include the ChemCam instruments and Supercam at the head of the American rovers Curiosity and Perseverance. The two instruments total more than a million laser shots on Mars, of which just over 10% have already been carried out by the Supercam instrument.
A great French and Toulouse success
As a reminder, the two instruments have the same function: to analyze the chemical nature of Martian rocks by studying the radiation they emit when they are shot at with a laser. ” It is a great French and Toulouse success exclaims Lionel Suchet, Deputy CEO of Cnes in Toulouse, about ChemCam and Supercam. Recently, it was the Supercam microphone, developed in Toulouse at Isae-Supaéro, which made it possible to determine the speed of sound in L’atmosphere martian.
One can easily distinguish the boxes of ChemCam and Supercam on the robotic models of Curiosity and Perseverance at the City of Space. If Curiosity will remain static, its little brother Perseverance will make several demonstrations mobiles. Comat, a company based in Toulouse and known for having developed the boxes for ChemCam and Supercam, is also a partner of this new Martian terrain.
The second rover that will demonstrate is a copy of the Chinese Zhurong. If the rover which landed on Mars last year is rather discreet, the Chinese team came to consult the expertise of Irap for their MarSCoDe laser spectrometer.
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