The first audio ever recorded from the surface of Mars, the Martian winds, was captured from Jezero Crater in February 2021.
The historical event was made possible because of a microphone housed within SuperCam aboard the rover, supplied by Knowles Corporation.
Knowles is a global provider of advanced micro-acoustic microphones and speakers, audio processing, and precision device solutions. In 1969 when the American crew landed the Apollo Lunar Module Eagle on the moon, Commander Neil Armstrong spoke his famous words into a Knowles microphone: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Knowles microphones have been on other NASA missions including The Mars Polar Lander and the Phoenix Lander. There have been eight previous spacecraft that have made it to Mars, but none of them have been able to deploy microphones to capture the sounds of the planet until now with the Mars Perseverance.
The Knowles EK Series microphone was selected for SuperCam because of its durability, high acoustic sensitivity, and low vibration sensitivity to transmit sound from the thin Martian atmosphere, including providing unique measurements of the physical properties of Martian rocks and soils.
NASA had extensive quality requirements and was looking for a miniature mic because it has extremely strict space and weight considerations for the SuperCam.
The microphone will capture the “popping” sound of rocks when they are lasered by the Perseverance rover. The impulse response will then create an audio signature. This audio signature data will help scientists to better understand what the rocks are comprised of, essentially complementing the laser in material analysis from Mars.
“The Knowles microphone that is on the NASA Mars Perseverance is one of the lightest, smallest premium quality microphones on the market and runs on extremely low power. It’s like sending human ears, only better, to Mars,” says Tim Wickstrom, global applications manager at Knowles.
The EK Series is an electret microphone. It is miniature, lightweight and features low noise, high bandwidth, and uses an extremely low amount of power. This highly precise microphone can pick up the entire range of human hearing and is currently used in a variety of both personal and professional applications.