Scientists report that NASA’s Perseverance rover has recorded the crackling of electrical discharges on Mars, captured by the microphone mounted on the rover’s mast. A French-led team published findings saying the instrument recorded 55 episodes of what they describe as ‘mini lightning’ over two Martian years, with nearly all events occurring on the windiest sols during dust storms and dust devils.
The discharges were small — only a few inches across — and took place within roughly six feet of the mast-mounted microphone, which is part of the rover’s camera and laser package. Researchers say the sparks, similar to static-electric zaps on Earth, are audible amid gusting winds and the sound of dust striking the microphone.
Lead author Baptiste Chide of the Institute for Research in Astrophysics and Planetology in Toulouse called the discovery a major new avenue for Mars research, noting that electrical activity could drive chemical reactions in the atmosphere and surface and may have been a missing piece in understanding Martian processes.
Independent scientists urge caution because the result depends on a single instrument not intended for lightning detection. Daniel Mitchard of Cardiff University, who was not part of the team, said the finding is persuasive but described it as a chance discovery: the discharges were heard rather than visually observed, and confirmation from additional instruments would strengthen the case.
Lightning has long been suspected on Mars and is known on other planets such as Jupiter and Saturn. To search for signals, Chide and colleagues analyzed 28 hours of Perseverance audio and electrical data, identifying episodes using both acoustic and electric signatures. Discharges linked to fast-moving dust devils lasted only a few seconds; those associated with larger dust storms persisted for as long as 30 minutes.
Researchers say the events resemble faint, static-like thunderstorms. Mars’ thin, CO2-rich atmosphere absorbs more sound than Earth’s, which makes many zaps faint. The planet’s ubiquitous dust and sand grains readily build up charge through collisions and friction, creating ideal conditions for frequent small discharges.
Mitchard noted that while a direct lightning strike on a future astronaut is extremely unlikely, frequent small discharges could pose challenges for delicate electronics and equipment.
Perseverance has previously transmitted other Martian sounds, including wheel crunches and the noise of the Ingenuity helicopter. Since landing in 2021 the rover has been exploring a dry river delta, drilling and caching rock cores that could hold evidence of ancient microbial life. NASA intends to return those samples to Earth, but the retrieval campaign is on indefinite hold as the agency seeks lower-cost options.
The report also mentions recent planetary mission activity: earlier this month Blue Origin launched a New Glenn rocket carrying two small NASA spacecraft, Blue and Gold, as part of the ESCAPADE mission managed by UC Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory. The twin probes are designed to study how the sun stripped Mars’ once-thicker atmosphere. They will use a November 2027 Earth flyby for a gravity assist before heading to Mars, with an arrival planned for September 2027, and will spend roughly a year in an initial kidney-shaped orbit beyond the moon followed by another extended phase of transit.
Mars itself once had a global magnetic field driven by a molten core; that field largely froze long ago, leaving isolated magnetic regions. Without a planet-wide magnetic shield, the atmosphere has been vulnerable to erosion by high-speed electrons and protons from the sun and by charged particles from solar storms.
William Harwood contributed to this report.