Perseverance collects the first Martian sounds: explications by Dr. Naomi Murdoch & Dr. Dr Alexander Stott

Perseverance was parked 80 metres from the small rotorcraft, which rose to five metres and then hovered before flying downrange for 133 metres and returning to its take-off and landing spot. SuperCam’s science microphone, developed by ISAE-SUPAERO, recorded the sound from the helicopter’s whirring rotors during the flight. The sound registered 84 hertz, equivalent to a low E note on the piano or a bass voice type.
“This is a wonderful surprise for the science team!” said Naomi Murdoch, a research scientist with ISAESUPAERO who is studying the data captured by the microphone. “Testing in a Mars atmosphere simulator to design this instrument and our sound propagation theories led us to believe the microphone would find it very difficult to discern sounds from the helicopter. As Mars’ atmosphere is very tenuous, it really attenuates sounds. So we needed a bit of luck to pick up the helicopter from this range. We’re thrilled to have obtained this recording, which is going to be a gold mine for our understanding of the planet’s atmosphere.”
Developed jointly by ISAE-SUPAERO and a consortium of laboratories attached to the French national scientific research centre CNRS and partner laboratories, coordinated by CNES, SuperCam’s microphone is derived from a consumer model adapted to withstand the Martian environment. The microphone is pursuing three science and technology goals of the Mars 2020 mission:
Study the sounds generated by laser impacts on Martian rocks to better understand their surface mechanical properties.
 Seek to gain new insights into surface atmospheric phenomena such as wind turbulence, dust devils and wind interactions with the rover, and now with the helicopter.
 Analyse the sound signature of the rover’s movements, for example when it is using its robot arm, driving on flat or rugged terrain, and operating its pumps.
The microphone was first turned on a few hours after Perseverance’s landing, picking up the first sounds on Mars from atmospheric turbulence. It is used daily in combination with laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) to analyse the chemical make-up of Martian rocks.

She was a PhD student in the Complex Systems Engineering Department (DISC)
The subject of his thesis is “vision-based navigation for autonomous rendez-vous with non-cooperative targets.” She is affiliated with the doctoral school, Aeronautics Astronautics (AA). This thesis is called a CIFRE* PhD and is done in collaboration with Thales Aliena Space
ISAE-SUPAERO welcomes its doctoral students in six ISAE-SUPAERO, ONERA teams and Clément Ader Institute, covering a wide spectrum of scientific disciplines related to aeronautics and space: aerodynamics and propulsion, structures and materials, embedded systems, networks and telecommunications, control and management of systems, human factors, electronics, and signal.
ISAE-SUPAERO offers a rich and diversified program of doctoral training, leading to the PhD, the highest degree awarded by the institute, and recognized internationally.
*Since 1981, The Ministry for Research has financed CIFRES with the double objective of placing doctoral students in the conditions for scientific employment and encouraging research partnerships between the academic and business spheres.

Paul Planeix (S2020) has received the Mayoux-Dauriac Award from the ISAE-SUPAERO ENSICA Alumni Association. This prize recognizes engineering students in the final year of the ISAE-SUPAERO engineering course for their practical achievements during their studies and the various internships carried out, in keeping with the wishes of Maurice Mayoux. (S 1924).
The €3,000 Second Prize for 2020 went to Paul Planeix for his drone project, “Search & Rescue”. Development of a flight simulation environment / contributions to de Guidance, Navigation and Control systems at Zipline International.
Paul has worked on many scientific projects in a wide variety of fields during his engineering studies.
A member of the CubeSat association, he contributed to the construction of a 1:1 scale model of the MONA nanosatellite. His studies at ISAE-SUPAERO also enabled him to qualify a drone navigation system and to take his first steps in research through an exoskeleton control project. This research project, based on Machine Learning methods, was carried out with the Enorev’ association, the goal being to help children suffering from cerebral palsy.
While working on his double degree at Stanford University, Paul built an aircraft using a search and rescue scenario that was totally autonomous from takeoff to landing.
Paul then managed to join Zipline, at the time still a young startup in Silicon Valley specialized in robotics. He had an internship there with the Guidance, Navigation and Control (GN&C) team, which only had two members at the time. He contributed to the development of a drone simulation environment and to GN&C systems.
Today, Zipline operates the first and largest drone delivery system in the world in Rwanda, Ghana and the United States, providing a solution to the problem of the last mile in the healthcare field. This solution saves lives by providing maximum availability of essential medical products while reducing waste and maintaining the cold chain.
Paul has continued to contribute to the Zipline mission since 2020 through the skills he acquired at ISAE-SUPAERO and Stanford as an engineer.
Paul Planeix received the award for the variety, the excellence of his educational background and the practical achievements that brought him into the startup ecosystem.
The Mayoux-Dauriac Award is given in recognition of the use of knowledge acquired at the School in the exercise of one of the various facets of the engineering profession, and for the utility of the projects undertaken to industry and services with a positive economic balance.