18 February 2021
First Quarter, 41% lit
The first recording of another planet
Perseverance came down in Jezero crater carrying microphones, and sent back the sound of wind on Mars.
Sound travels slower and much more quietly in air a hundredth as thick as ours, and high notes fade out over distance in a way they do not here, so a conversation on Mars would lose its consonants first. The rover also carried the helicopter that flew two months later.
- Date
- 18 February 2021
- Moon computed for
- 20:00 local time, UTC
- Phase
- First Quarter
- Illuminated
- 41%
Source: NASA Mars 2020 mission archive