Sorry, space lasers don’t go ‘pew pew.’ NASA releases Mars audio — some are unfazed

The first sound recordings from NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover have made it to Earth. Now, years after sci-fi films have shaped expectations, we finally know how space lasers sound — and it’s not what most people were expecting.

One of the seven instruments aboard the rover, SuperCam blasts an infrared laser beam out of its 12-pound head that heats its target to about 18,000 degrees Fahrenheit, vaporizing it. A special camera then measures the chemical makeup of the target from the plasma that spits out after the shot.

The recording, released Wednesday, reveals the sound of 30 impacts on a Martian rock called “Máaz” (“Mars” in Navajo) that sat about 10 feet away, thanks to a microphone lodged on SuperCam.

No zap is the same; variations in intensity offer clues about the physical structure of the rocks, such as its hardness or weathering status, according to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory that created the rover.

Of particular interest is whether the rocks harbor minerals that signal the past presence of liquid water like clays, carbonates and sulfates — signs that ancient microbial life could have existed on the seemingly barren Red Planet.

“SuperCam truly gives our rover eyes to see promising rock samples and ears to hear what it sounds like when the lasers strike them,” Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for science at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said in a statement. “This information will be essential when determining which samples to cache and ultimately return to Earth through our groundbreaking Mars Sample Return Campaign, which will be one of the most ambitious feats ever undertaken by humanity.”

While enjoying the scientific triumphs needed to get our hands on these recordings, Twitter users didn’t hold back their opinions about the anticlimactic nature of the space laser sounds.