Saturn Hailstorm: Cassini's Radio and Plasma Wave Science

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SUMMARY

The Cassini spacecraft's Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) instrument detected up to 680 puffs of plasma per second generated by dust particle impacts, creating sounds reminiscent of hail hitting a tin roof. Principal investigator Don Gurnett confirmed the conversion of these impacts into audible sounds. The audio clip's authenticity regarding time compression is debated, particularly concerning the spacecraft's eclipse duration by Saturn's B ring, which lasted approximately six minutes.

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  • Understanding of plasma physics and ionized gases
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  • Knowledge of audio processing techniques
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  • Explore the effects of dust impacts on spacecraft and their instrumentation
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I found the link to this on slashdot and I thought it was very interesting so I brought it here.


Each time a dust particle hit Cassini, the impact produced a puff of plasma--a tiny cloud of ionized gas. Cassini's Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) instrument was able to count these clouds; there were as many as 680 puffs per second. "We converted these into audible sounds that resemble hail hitting a tin roof," says Gurnett, the intrument's principal investigator.

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004/09jul_hailstorm.htm?list1193276
 
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Neat stuff. Is it fair to assume that the audio clip was made 1:1, i.e. no time compression?
 
I'm pretty sure it's time compressed -- the period during which the spacecraft was eclipsed by the B ring (IIRC) was ~6 minutes. It didn't cross the entire ring plane in seconds, I don't think.

- Warren