Exploring the capabilities of microphone data from Mars to determine the properties of an extraplanetary atmosphere

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For many decades, we have sent cameras to other worlds, but have never successfully listened to one. Since the 1990s, Leighton argued the usefulness of obtaining acoustic data from extraplanetary environment to which we could send probes, such as the moon Europa's oceans and the atmospheres of Mars, Venus, Titan and Jupiter. This dream was realised when, in 2021, the Perseverance rover landed on Mars. Its microphone has recorded aerodynamic signals (e.g. the wind noise of a passing dust devil), dust impacts (when said dust devil passed right over Perseverance) and acoustic signals (the rotor blade tones of the accompanying helicopter drone, Ingenuity from up to 100 m distant; and the shock waves from rocks up to 20 m distant that are impacted by Perseverance's laser).Leighton and Joseph were invited in February 2023 to the International Space Science Institute to view the Perseverance data. Such was the value of their insights, they are already the only UK co-authors on the paper (published today1) from the Perseverance team showing the value of microphone signals for science to investigate properties of the Martian atmosphere that are currently a mystery, such as the turbulence and temperature profile near the ground). This PhD project will analyse the microphone data that is still coming from Perseverance, recommend missions for Perseverance to take new data, and conduct on-Earth experiments to design the microphone array for the next Mars rover mission, and for future missions (a microphone has now been allocated to Titan's future Dragonfly helicopter).