--- title: "NASA Mars Lander Detects Creepy “Dinks and Donks” Sounds" description: "NASA's Mars InSight lander just detected some \"peculiar sounds\" thanks to its onboard seismometer that's capable of picking up on the tiniest of vibrations." date: "2019-10-02" modified: "2019-10-02" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-mars-lander-peculiar-sounds" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Mars" - "Science & Energy" - "Space" tags: - "insight" - "mars" - "NASA" - "the digest" --- # NASA Mars Lander Detects Creepy “Dinks and Donks” Sounds ![NASA's Mars InSight lander just detected some "peculiar sounds" thanks to its onboard seismometer that's capable of picking up on the tiniest of vibrations.]() *\Image: NASA\* ## "Dinks and Donks" NASA's Mars InSight lander has detected some "[peculiar sounds]()," thanks to an onboard seismometer that's capable of picking up the tiniest of vibrations. The InSight team found that delicate parts inside the seismometer itself were expanding and contracting, causing "dinks and donks" — the team's nickname for strange mechanical sounds — to show up in the samples received and analyzed back on Earth. In sum, the eerie noises turned out to be a mixture of wind gusts, sounds from mechanical movements of parts inside the lander itself, and marsquakes. https://youtu.be/m9cCuW9nIQg ## "Faint Rumbles" The lander's Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure sensor has detected more than 100 events since the rover [placed it]() on the Martian surface in January. In April, InSight [recorded]() its first ever marsquake — "faint rumbles" that "appear to have come from the inside of the planet," according to NASA. The InSight team believes that marsquakes last for tens of minutes, unlike the seconds here on Earth, thanks to the Red Planet's dried crust in which fractures remain after impact. The sound waves are able to scatter, rather than travel in a single line like here on Earth, allowing sound waves to continue uninterrupted. "It's been exciting, especially in the beginning, hearing the first vibrations from the lander," said Imperial College London's Constantinos Charalambous, who's on InSight's SEIS team, in [a statement](). "You're imagining what's really happening on Mars as InSight sits on the open landscape." **READ MORE:** [NASA lander captures marsquakes, other Martian sounds]() \[*Associated Press*\] **More on InSight:** *[Here’s How NASA Dreams up Robotic Arms for Landers]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()