Richard Raspet's legacy in planetary exploration

Richard Raspet's legacy in acoustics and physics is immense. His theoretical and experimental work on acoustic sensors in adverse conditions has helped scientific and engineering progress in numerous areas. Here, I focus on some of the implications of Richard's work in planetary exploration. For example, his work on microphones in the presence of winds was used for the Mars InSight wind-noise filter and the development of the microphone of the SuperCam instrument of the Mars Perseverance rover. Richard's research on ground motion produced by wind was used in isolating the purely seismic component of Mars's surface motion detected by the InSight seismic sensors. In a similar vein, his results on wind-generated low-frequency noise inside porous domes has led to a major study to explore the feasibility of deploying custom-designed porous domes on Mars as alternatives for rosette-type wind-noise filters for infrasound measurements. On a personal level, it was Richard who suggested, during a session break of an ASA meeting, that it may be worthwhile addressing infrasound absorption and dispersion in Earth's lower thermosphere; this brief interlude made helped cement my interest in atmospheric acoustics on Earth and beyond.