I was wondering as far as science goes how good is Mars's atmosphere as far as transmission of sound? Okay, let's say an astronaut is on the surface and some weird hillbilly wanders up to them clinking a pair of spoons. Would you be able to hear a sound like that?
with your in-suit sound amplifiers, yes. Without them, you'd be suffocating anyway, as the air pressure on Mars is 600 pascals (0.087 psi; 6.0 mbar), about 0.6% of Earth's mean sea level pressure of 101.3 kilopascals (14.69 psi; 1.013 bar). 600 pascals is vacuum-like enough for Elon Musk's hyperloop. But with some air pressure there and a damn good amplifier you might hear a tiny click or something.
It's also dreadful. Imagine living in a tin can with that as your only view. Can't even go outside without a suit. I suppose there are those big lava tubes, and with a little work you might have a cave habitat, but basically you're fucked. Elon, what will you do once people find out what it's like?
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