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comment by thenewgreen
thenewgreen  ·  4496 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Curiosity's Descent

This is probably a very silly question:

Curiosity can send images, can it send audio? I wonder what mars sounds like? Does such a thing exist?





mk  ·  4496 days ago  ·  link  ·  

It's crazy, 17 cameras and no microphone. The polar lander had a microphone, but it crashed. I have no idea why Curiosity doesn't have one.

thenewgreen  ·  4496 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    The polar lander had a microphone, but it crashed.
Did it capture audio prior to it crashing or was it DOA?

There has to be a reason Curiosity doesn't have one. It's not as if it just slipped everyones mind. Perhaps the technology needed outweighed what was perceived as the potential ROI. Bummer.

b_b  ·  4496 days ago  ·  link  ·  

DOA, unfortunately.

Probably they had a weight limit on curiosity and whoever had the cash got to dictate what instruments got prioritized. No info, just my guess.

mk  ·  4495 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Seems weird though. My phone has a microphone, and Curiosity weighs a ton.