Scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST, USA) conducted a study to determine how the flow of time on Mars varies compared to Earth. The publication appeared in The Astronomical Journal.
On the Red Planet, a day is 40 minutes longer than on Earth, and its year is almost twice as long. However, a key aspect of the research was to find out how exactly seconds pass.
During the calculations, it was established that Martian clocks are ahead of Earth clocks by 477 microseconds per day. Nevertheless, due to the elliptical orbit and the gravitational influence of the Sun, this value can fluctuate by up to 226 microseconds over the course of a year.
According to physicist Bidjunat Patla, understanding the peculiarities of time flow on Mars is critically important for synchronizing navigation systems and communications for future missions. These calculations may also contribute to the creation of similar GPS systems on other planets in the Solar System.
At the moment, communication between Earth and Mars is delayed by a period of 4 to 24 minutes. Accurate time synchronization in the future will improve interaction between the planets, providing almost real-time communication without data loss.
