Comments on: Interplanetary Jet Lag: How NASA Rover Staff Adjust to Martian Time

By: Veronique Greenwood

Veronique Greenwood — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 14:57:01 +0000

Ye gods, how embarrassing! Thanks for the swift catch, all, and apologies for the mistake.

By: Chris

Chris — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 14:56:51 +0000

Curiosity is not solar powered, it is nuclear powered. But it can only work during the day since it needs to see where it is going! Also to communicate with the rover we need to be able to see it, which is during the Martian day.

By: Gib

Gib — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 05:51:37 +0000

Well, the orbit of the planet around the sun is responsible for exactly 1 day per year. (It makes the difference between a solar day and a sidereal day).

The rest of the days are due to the rotation of the planet, so I’d say the author stuffed up.

Now, it may be that when the planets were being formed, that planets closer to the sun got more rotational momentum than those further out, resulting in longer days for Mars, but I don’t think that’s what the author meant….

By: Steven M

Steven M — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 04:19:16 +0000

Same as bystander: Mars’ distance from the sun has nothing to do with its period of rotation or the length of its day. Jupiter’s day is only 9.8 hours long and it is much farther away (and larger) than Mars.

By: Tony

Tony — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 03:36:52 +0000

@bysteander: Because Mars is further away from the sun, it takes longer for the planet to revolve around the sun so a year on Mars is longer than a year on Earth. (Insert next logical step here). And that’s why the length of a day on Mars is related to its distance from the sun. QED.

I’d love to hear an explanation if it’s true that distance from the sun affects the length of a day, but as far as I can figure out the author has just confused revolutions and rotations.

By: Fraser Cain

Fraser Cain — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 00:58:56 +0000

Hi Veronique, I’m sure you’re going to get a bunch of these, so get that edit in quick. The increased orbital distance of Mars has nothing to do with its length of day. It’s just coincidence that it’s close to 24 hours.

By: Erin

Erin — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 00:55:48 +0000

Tried to look at the study, but PubMed says it was published today and is under embargo until April 2013 This is entirely contrary to my understanding of how embargoes work.

Until I can actually read the damn thing, though…

The graph concerns me. It’s important in circadian studies to establish a subject’s circadian period and phase angle before the experiment begins. If any such data has been gathered, it isn’t displayed here.

By: bystander

bystander — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 19:19:50 +0000

What does distance from the Sun have to do with the length of the day? I thought it was dependent on rotational speed of the planet.