For some reason I started wondering how sounds would be affected in a thin atmosphere, and from there it was a short leap to wondering what the ambient sounds would be on the planet Mars.
Researching it, I found that there was no microphone on the Viking landers of the 1970s (although Carl Sagan had suggested it), and while there was slated to be a microphone on the Mars Polar Lander, we all know how that turned out.
A few sites (notably CNN) often suggestions (simulations?) with regard to the background noise of Mars, but are there any direct recordings from other Mars landers/probes etc?
It’s ok, that microphone’s getting a second chance on the French Netlander mission launching 2007.
If you’re interested, back in the '70’s someone turned data from asteroid microfragments or radiation (can’t remember which) from a deep space probe (Pioneer or Voyager I think) into sound. Their tape sounded like being in a hailstorm with a tin umbrella.
Unfortunately, no one is sure what Mars sounds like.
The bigger question is, what does Uranus smell like?
