--- title: "When NASA’s New Rover Lands, Its Other Lander Will Listen for the Impact" description: "A New Visitor After a seven month long journey through the solar system, NASA’s Perseverance rover is set to weather the infamous Seven Minutes of Terror as it makes its entry, descent, and landing on Mars next week. Already waiting on the Red Planet’s surface to greet it is NASA’s InSight probe. InSight will in […]" date: "2021-02-11" modified: "2021-02-11" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-rover-lands-listen-impact" categories: - "NASA" - "Space" tags: - "insight" - "mars" - "NASA" - "perseverance" - "the digest" --- # When NASA’s New Rover Lands, Its Other Lander Will Listen for the Impact ![After a seven months of travel, NASA's Perseverance rover is set to land on Mars next week. The agency's InSight lander will be listening.]() *\Image: NASA\* ## A New Visitor After a seven month journey through the solar system, NASA's [Perseverance]() rover is set to weather the infamous Seven Minutes of Terror as it makes its entry, descent, and landing on Mars next week. When it gets there, it won't be alone. Already waiting on the Red Planet's surface will be NASA's InSight probe. In fact, InSight will attempt to "hear" Perseverance land, [*Universe Today* reports](). Its specialized instruments are sensitive enough, at least in theory, to pick up the descent sound and impact Perseverance will make when touching down. ## Rover Quakes According to the InSight's team at NASA, the landing is a rare event that offers a special opportunity to test the lander's seismometers, since we know exactly when Perseverance will land. InSight has already detected hundreds of marsquakes during its two year stay on Mars. It hasn't, however, had the chance to record a more substantial impact event from a meteorite. "The landing is a long way away, so the most important thing that will determine whether we hear anything is how noisy it is on the day," InSight team member Ben Fernando told *Universe Today*. ## Family Reunion In addition to listening to Perseverance making impact with the ground just over 2,000 miles away, InSight will also attempt to detect the sonic boom created by the capsule plummeting through the thin Martian atmosphere. According to Fernando and his [team's preprint]() outlining the experiment, the researchers aren't sure the sound will travel far enough. But a detection of a seismic event created by InSight's impact with the ground is a distinct possibility, and "would be of enormous scientific value," the paper reads. And poetically, the project symbolizes the fact that no future visitor to Mars to will truly be alone. **READ MORE:** [InSight is Going to Try and “Hear” Perseverance Land on Mars From 3,452 km Away]() \[*Universe Today*\] **More on Perseverance:** *[A Guy Who Drives NASA’s Mars Rover Is Dishing About the Experience]()* ## 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]()