NASA's “Perseverance” rover has recorded lightning and small thunder for the first time on Mars. Two years of observations have confirmed 55 electrical discharges, which could change our understanding of the Martian atmosphere and the potential for life.
AzEdu.az reports, citing foreign media, that the “Perseverance” rover recorded sounds and electromagnetic interferences via its “SuperCam” microphone.
A team led by planetary scientist Baptiste Chide from the University of Toulouse in France analyzed 28 hours of data and identified 55 electrical discharge events.
In the recordings, the microphone first registered a “bip” sound created by the electrical discharge, and in some cases, a small sonic boom and thunder were heard.
Studies show that a high dust concentration alone is not sufficient to generate electricity. 54 events occurred during strong winds and dust storms, while an additional 16 discharges happened during encounters with “dust devils”.
Lightning on Mars is considerably weaker than the giant flashes on Earth; even the strongest discharges carry only a small fraction of Earth's lightning energy.
This research has two important implications: future Mars exploration technologies will be designed to protect against electrical discharges, and lightning is presumed to have played a role in the origin of life on Earth. If lightning also exists on Mars, astrobiologists can include this factor in their calculations of the probability of life.
Scientists note that this discovery opens a new research path related to the Martian atmosphere and electrical phenomena, and encourages the development of new models.
