More ‘bloop’ than bang, first record of meteor hitting Mars

THE first sounds of meteorites hitting the surface of Mars have been recorded by Nasa.

The space rocks, weighing as much as 31 stone, smashed into the red planet at thousands of miles an hour.

But rather than making an almighty bang, the impacts made a ‘bloop’ sound not dissimilar to pebbles falling into a pond.

Nasa yesterday released an 11-second clip of the recording made by its InSight lander. It reveals the aftermath of a meteorite hitting the atmosphere and breaking into three pieces that hit the surface. The clip and images of the 24ft craters the impacts created, which have been made public for the first time, are the first recorded together on any planet.

Dr Ingrid Daubar, of Brown University in the US, one of the team analysing the findings, said: ‘If we know how many craters are forming we can figure out how many have formed in history. That means we can look at Martian landscapes and figure out how old they are.’

The InSight lander has been recording seismic activity and sounds on Mars since 2018.