Now that humanity has a decent chance of sending humans to Mars, it’s just as good to think about the kinds of lifestyle challenges the Red Planet will offer. Time itself, for example, will have to change in an important way. As this new video from YouTube channel RealLifeLore explains, people will have to think about what a ‘year’ or ‘day’ means to them. (Similar to what happened in 2020.)
RealLifeLore has produced countless similar statements, covering everything from how big the Pacific Ocean is to what the earth will look like in the event of catastrophic climate change. (Spoiler alert: like Tatooine.)
In this statement, the channel notes that the timing on Mars will be similar to, but also “completely different” from keeping time here on Earth. This is mainly because the earth and Mars take different times to orbit the sun. Although both rotate on their axles, they do so at different speeds.
RealLifeLore
These changes result in Mars Day (or Sol) being slightly longer than Earth at 24 hours and 37 minutes. Mars’ year is much longer, at 687 Earth Days. However, a “second” is equal on both planets; a second defined as a certain number of radiation cycles of a cesium-133 atom, which remains unchanged throughout the universe. But in the end, they still need different senses of how long a ‘day’ or ‘year’ is.
RealLifeLore
Along with developing a new sense of the length of days or years, settlers will also need a new calendar. For this, RealLifeLore notes that the Space Science Institute has already established one. The Institute’s calendar for Mars begins on April 11, 1955 here on earth; make that day January 1st of the first March year. Which would mean if we celebrate New Year’s Eve 2021 on earth, Mars is still busy with the 35th calendar month. Which is confusing, until you remember that Mars’ “years” are much longer. And, as Einstein famously said, time is just a ‘stubborn persistent’ illusion.
RealLifeLore