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When the wind blows on Mars, electricity crackles through the air. And for the first time, scientists have detected this. 



NASAs Perseverance rover aka Percy captured the data. Its microphone recorded sounds and electrical interference from dozens of electrical discharges. They had been sparked by colliding dust grains.



Researchers shared their discovery November 26 in Nature.



The electric jolts were fairly small. Each was only about as strong as the shock from touching a doorknob on a dry, winter day. Still, they could pose a risk to future astronauts and electronics. They also could make it harder to search for Martian life.



Its like mini-lightning, explains Baptiste Chide. This planetary scientist works at the University of Toulouse in France. These discharges are centimeter-scale electric arcs, he says. Each one that his team detected produces a crack and a shock wave.



There are thousands of kilometers (miles) of dust-storm fronts on Mars that can make these jolts, Chide says. So we think there are plenty of these small discharges happening.



Snap, crackle, pop



When airborne particles slide against or bump into each other, their surfaces can become charged. (This is similar to what happens when you rub two balloons together.) On Earth, countless such interactions occur within sandstorms and volcanic ash plumes. Particle collisions build up electrical fields that eventually discharge as arcs of electricity.



The phenomenon is called triboelectricity (TRY-boh-ee-lek-TRIS-ih-tee).



Lets learn about static electricity



For decades, lab tests and computer models had hinted at triboelectricity flashes within dust storms and dust devils on Mars. But none had confirmed it.



Chide and his colleagues previously recorded the sounds of a Martian dust devil. In them, they heard a loud clicking. At the time, they thought it was the sound of dust grains striking the microphone. But one day, Chide heard other scientists at a conference discuss Martian triboelectricity. That led to a shocking realization: Those clicks might have been zaps.



To find out, his team modeled the electrical interference that the rovers microphone would pick up from a nearby discharge. Then they compared that to the actual interference the mic had picked up.




A Martian zap



In this recording taken by NASAs Perseverance rover, you first hear the rumble of a gusting dust devil. Then, around 10 seconds in, you can hear the sputtering clicks generated by an electrical discharge.




The signatures matched perfectly.



Excited, the researchers reviewed 28 hours of recordings taken over two Martian years. A total of 55 discharges occurred within about two meters (6.5 feet) of the microphone. Most occurred at the windiest times. Sixteen showed up during dust devils.



The largest zap packed 40 millijoules of energy, the scientists estimate. Thats similar to the zap of an electrical bug swatter.



Theres no doubt in my mind that it was an electrical signal that they measured, says Joshua Mndez Harper. This electrical engineer at Portland State University in Oregon did not take part in the new work. But Mndez Harper wonders if the rover may have influenced those electrical signals. Triboelectricity likely happens on Mars anyway, he says. But it might behave differently around a metal spacecraft.





Zappy hazards



The jolts wont kill astronauts, Chide points out. But they could degrade spacesuits over time. Or they might disrupt spacecraft electronics and instruments.



Whats more, zaps could get in the way of searching for evidence of Martian life. The discharges may spark a reaction that creates oxidants. These types of chemicals can destroy organic molecules, Chide says. And they might be signs of life.



Percy is gathering rocks and soil for a future spacecraft to bring back to Earth. Those samples are likely protected. Some are nestled safely inside the rovers metal skeleton. Others have been left behind on the ground inside metal tubes that should shield them from electricity, Chide says. Still, any of them might have been zapped prior to collection.



This discovery calls for a next generation of instruments dedicated to measuring electric fields at the surface of Mars, Chide says. That could help scientists find out how much electricity is zipping through the Red Planets atmosphere. And that could reveal more about what its effects might be. 




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