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Alone on Mars for its first birthday, the rover Curiosity got a special treat.
Its human lifeline on Earth programmed its measurement instrument SAM to do something special on Tuesday: sing a tinny version of the Happy Birthday song, using the frequency tones that come out of its tiny measurement lab.
“If there’s anyone listening on Mars on this special occasion, you will hear this,” said Florence Tan, lead engineer on the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument, who played the familiar refrain in an internet message.
“This is a first for NASA and for the world, and music brings us all together, so this is fun!” Tuesday marks the first “landi-versary” for Curiosity, which was set down on the fourth planet from the sun one year ago in a daring parachute manoeuvre. It was a softer landing than previous Mars rovers, some of which suffered disabling damage on touching down.
Since then, Curiosity has been roaming around a huge crater, turning up evidence using SAM that life could have been or could be possible there.
Sam scoops up soil samples, then vibrates at various frequencies to make them go into the chemical laboratory. The frequencies were programmed from Earth to serenade the birthday song.
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