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First sounds of wind on Mars captured by NASA’s Insight Lander
This fresh in from the Elysium Planitia of Mars: the sound of wind from an alien world. On its 10th day as a new resident of the red planet, NASA’s InSight lander’s pressure sensor transmitted air vibration data from its trembling solar panels, representing a steady breeze about 99 million miles away. The combination of photos sent back from the craft with the sound of Martian wind gives Earth residents a unique moment to feel like they’ve joined the craft themselves. “It’s fun to imagine that I’m there,” mused Don Banfield during a JPL media teleconference discussing the recording. Banfield is InSight’s Auxiliary Payload Sensor Subsystem (APSS) Science Lead.
InSight, short for “Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport”, launched aboard an Atlas V rocket on May 5, 2018 and successfully landed on the Martian surface on November 26, 2018. The craft is a seismic investigator sent to study the red planet’s core, eventually drilling 10-16 feet down into its crust to gather geographical data. The craft’s landing event was live streamed online for viewers around the world, greeting Earthlings with a photo of its new home’s surface shortly after. It sent back more photos of the surrounding area prior to the wind recording.
The thin CO2 atmosphere on Mars doesn’t translate high sounds well, so the recorded vibrations from InSight’s pressure sensor are low on the audio spectrum, under 50 Hz, thus difficult to hear. However, after the frequency was increased by a factor of 100 (raised two octaves), it became possible to hear what sounds like a steady wind blowing across the regolith. Dust devils tracked in the area moving across the Martian surface had motion consistent with the wind recordings, thus confirming what was being heard by InSight’s scientists.
The way InSight picks up and translates sound is similar to how a human ear works: Air pressure vibrates the eardrum, then that vibration pattern is sent through the inner ear bones to the cochlea which has tiny hairs translating the vibrations into electrical signals sent to the brain. InSight’s solar panels are like its eardrums, the spacecraft structure itself like its inner ear, its instruments like its cochlear, and its electronic box translating and transmitting signals is like brain. The “sounds” we hear from Mars are translated data from wind-caused vibrations.
Ironically enough, wind noise is actually not a particularly desired outcome from InSight’s instruments. According to the scientists participating in NASA’s teleconference discussing the event, the inlet for the pressure sensor was specifically designed to minimize any chatter from air movement. Also, the placement of InSight’s seismographic gear will be based on the best area to reduce input from the lander’s interaction with the vibrations it’s recording, i.e., the lander’s movement from seismic events. It should be noted, though, the Martian wind gracing our human ears for the first time is only a taste of what’s to come from InSight’s instruments.
Once the wind and thermal shield (the white dome in the photos) has been lifted from the lander in a few weeks, all of InSight’s instruments will be exposed to the Martian environment for data collection. For now, the lander’s Earth-based team is first focusing on understanding the area the craft is in to pick the best place to set its instruments. After the main mission begins, however, a full study of Mars’ atmosphere will be underway and we could hear, among other natural events, the sounds of exploding meteors.
While wind may be a unique sound to hear on an alien world, it’s not the first time a NASA craft has entertained our ears and imaginations. Electromagnetic vibrations have been recorded all across our solar system, perhaps the most famous of which originated from the Voyager 1 spacecraft launched in 1977. The data collected from the craft’s radio-capturing instruments has been converted into audio files – you can even find a full album’s worth of the sounds on a variety of streaming sites. Some of the recordings are meditation-worthy, others a touch unnerving. We humans have additionally added some recordings of our own to space via Voyager’s famous “golden record”, the sounds of which are also available for listening online.
If you’re craving a full Martian soundtrack, you’ll be happy to know that NASA’s Mars 2020 rover is planned to provide just that. It will have two microphones on board, one of which will record the actual landing of the rover. Combined with telemetry data and surface photographs, Mars is on its way to its own documentary with inputs completely provided “on-location”. Stay tuned!
Listen to the Martian wind yourself below:
Elon Musk
Tesla Roadster owners to get “Flying Stunt Mode” and looping track access
Musk says Roadster owners can command the unveiling stunts autonomously, with a Texas looping track.
Elon Musk says owners of the new Tesla Roadster will be able to ask the car to perform the stunts Tesla showed at its unveiling, with the car doing the driving itself. Musk made the comment Saturday in a reply on X to tech blogger Robert Scoble, and he added a promise of a looping track at Tesla’s Texas headquarters.
Scoble had argued that the person in the Roadster is not really driving it. In his description, the driver operates a computer that tells another computer what to do, with steering, braking and acceleration all handled by wire. Musk answered, “True. You will be able to ask the Roadster to perform any of the tricks shown autonomously, as it will be sentient. Also, we will have a wild looping track (crazier even than Hot Wheels) at our Texas HQ where you can test out your Roadster.”
@Scobleizer True.
You will be able to ask the Roadster to perform any of the tricks shown autonomously, as it will be sentient.
Also, we will have a wild looping track (crazier even than Hot Wheels) at our Texas HQ where you can test out your Roadster.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 17, 2026
At the October 15 event outside Waco, the car drove up a curved ramp until it was upside down, flew off on cold gas thrusters, flipped and landed. It also hovered over a Cybercab, Cybertruck, Semi, Model Y and Model 3 while moving. As we noted in our breakdown of the three Roadster configurations, Musk said at the event that the car “literally is just going to puff itself up” to perform the maneuvers whenever an owner wants. Saturday’s reply adds that the car would run them on its own.
Tesla has described some of the hardware that would make that possible. The Roadster uses steer by wire with a yoke, and its cold gas thrusters rely on electric actuators for small adjustments in flight. A fan system under the car creates suction, which Tesla says is strong enough to hold it upside down, a setup we covered in our look at the Roadster’s fan system and thrusters.
Musk did not say when an autonomous stunt feature might arrive, how it would work, or what he means by sentient. He also gave no size, location or opening date for the Texas track. Production is planned for Giga Texas in 2027 or 2028, and Tesla says the car is not approved for public road use. The Rocket version, the one built to fly, is invite only.
The comment follows a week of Musk teasing the event, including his claim that the demo would be a banger, which we covered before the stream. Tesla reports third quarter earnings on October 21, and shareholders can submit and vote on questions through the Say portal until 4 p.m. EDT on October 20, according to our earnings Q&A preview. A question about autonomous Roadster stunts and the Texas track would be a quick way to get specifics from management.
Elon Musk
How to use Grok Bot to block spam calls and texts
Musk told users to ask Grok Bot to scrub their phone numbers from spam lists.
Elon Musk has a new use case for Grok Bot, and it is the spam call. On Thursday he replied to an X user named Arash with a short instruction: “Ask your @Grok @Bot to remove your phone number from spam call & text lists!” Arash had said he got tired of the calls, had an AI bot find his number on listing sites and file removal requests, and packaged the process as a free skill for others.
The skill is called Spam-Call Scrubber, which is described to find a phone number on people search sites and data brokers, submits the opt outs, completes the confirmation emails those sites send back, and rechecks on a schedule the user picks. Using it requires the Grok Bot app. The pitch is time saved, since most broker opt outs sit behind separate forms on separate sites.
Ask your @Grok @Bot to remove your phone number from spam call & text lists!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 15, 2026
Musk said Grok Bot now gives each bot its own email address, and that it can detect scam emails. On Thursday he also said SpaceX would make users whole if the bot botches a purchase or leaks a card, then told users to shop away from Amazon after the retailer blocked the agent, as Teslarati reported. The terms of service we reviewed at the time put responsibility for what an agent does on the user.
For Tesla owners, Grok Bot is not just a phone app. Tesla brought Grok Bot into its vehicles on September 22, and we argued earlier this week that the Cybercab’s real advantage may be the errands it runs during a ride. Every Cybercab and the rest of the Model Y Robotaxi fleet has it enabled. The more routine tasks like this one become, the more a rider has reason to hand over something personal in the back seat.
The new Spam-Call Scrubber skill can be downloaded for free and works on sites that honor removal requests, while noting that listings can reappear, and illegal robocallers do not check any registry. Whether Spam-Call Scrubber cuts anyone’s call volume is something the first wave of users will find out, and Musk’s endorsement guarantees that wave is coming.
Investor's Corner
Tesla’s flying Roadster just revealed something bigger than the car
Analysts say the Roadster demo puts a Tesla and SpaceX merger back on the table.
The Roadster unveiling near Waco ended Thursday night, and by Friday morning much of the investor reaction had less to do with the car than with who owns the rocket technology inside it.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said the event “puts the Tesla/SpaceX relationship on the table in a tangible way,” pointing to the propulsion, pressure vessel and control hardware sitting on a Tesla product. Gene Munster of Deepwater Asset Management called the demo “a ridiculous display of engineering” with “no commercial value” beyond embarrassing traditional automakers, though he said it showed Musk wants the two companies together.
The more specific forecast came a day earlier from Barclays. Analyst Dan Levy told clients a deal could be announced before Tesla’s annual meeting, which must happen by December 6, and that an announcement in late October or early November could make shareholder approval harder. Barclays expects SpaceX to be the buyer in an all stock deal, with Tesla holders receiving SpaceX shares at a premium, based on market values of roughly $2.1 trillion for SpaceX and $1.5 trillion for Tesla. If nothing lands around the meeting, the bank still sees an announcement within 6 to 12 months.
The Roadster demo just added more weight to merger speculations. Tesla’s demo used cold gas thrusters and pressure tanks of the kind SpaceX uses on Falcon 9, and Musk described the car as a collaboration between Tesla and SpaceX engineers, as we mentioned in our breakdown of the three Roadster configurations.
Musk has not publicly addressed a deal since the event, as far as we have seen. His most direct answer remains the one he gave at the All In Summit, when he said that with so much collaboration, “who can imagine what action one might take” without ruling anything out. Ives has held to a 2027 timeline since his March note, and Musk pushed back on the China piece of the speculation when ARK floated a year end announcement in August.
The next test is Tesla’s third quarter earnings call on October 21. However, we recall in July that Musk told analysts, “we can’t talk about combining companies and that kind of thing on an earnings call,” so a clear answer wouldn’t be expected.
Tesla Roadster owners to get “Flying Stunt Mode” and looping track access
How to use Grok Bot to block spam calls and texts
Tesla’s flying Roadster just revealed something bigger than the car
SpaceX reveals how its 1 Million AI satellite network will work and prevent space collisions
Elon Musk’s Boring Company lands a new Middle East deal, and Nashville is about to get faster
