Sound Propagation on Mars: Physics based acoustic predictions

Studies on sound propagation have always complemented the description of physics related to planetary atmospheres. Since the first space missions, the satellites, entry probes, and landers were provided with microphones to record the propagation through media that differ from Earth. This paper deals with the acoustic predictions on how sound propagation on Mars varies with distance from a sound source. The research is carried out at different octave frequencies, including also the attenuation factor from the Stokes’ law in isotropic fluids. The results show that the attenuation at low frequencies is negligible, also at far distance. At medium octaves around 500 Hz, the attenuation starts to be consistent, while the high pitches result inaudible already at 1m distance from the sound source.