The Mars Microphone

I was out walking the dog late Monday afternoon and enjoying the spring blooming. The sounds of birds, kids, the breeze, its great.

So I'm thinking take away the sound of sentient beings and what's left; the sounds made by the wind blowing leaves, the micro sounds of rustling, the tiny light sounds that lay behind the loud sounds of cars, people, dogs, and the rest.

Then I was wondering what it would sound like on other planets. What's it sound like on Mars.

Here's the crux of the information I found on that topic, sound on Mars:

The Mars Microphone 1

excerpt: "The original Mars Microphone instrument was lost in December 1999 when contact with the Mars Polar Lander was never regained after its scheduled touchdown. Thus, there is currently no sound data available from the Martian surface."

also: "Sound on the surface of Mars is expected to be similar to that on Earth, except much fainter because the atmospheric pressure is much less than on Earth. Martian atmospheric pressure is about 7 millibars (as on Earth, this is altitude-dependent), which is less than 1% of the Earth's."

"A new version of the Mars Microphone is scheduled to fly on the French NetLander mission in 2007."

The problem is France's NetLander Mission Postponed, yes until 2009.

So, at present there are no sound recordings from Mars although the hardware is out there to do it, The Mars Microphone 2. It just needs a lift on over to Mars.