#1
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Mars -> Earth time
It's been reported in many places that the MER teams are operating on "Mars time"..i.e., days that are ~24 hrs. and 39 minutes long. Does anyone know the details of how the discrepancy is made up? I.E., do the clocks that the teams look at display? Did they create a 25th "hour" in the day that's only ~39 minutes long? Did they keep a 24-hour clock, but make the hour longer? And if the latter, did they add extra minutes to each hour, add extra seconds to each minute, make the second longer, or what? It seems unlikely that they would want to tamper with the second, minute, or hour, as those are all units that can be used in basic engineering caculations. Altering those could cause problems. |
#2
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Mars -> Earth time
On Thu, 15 Jan 2004 17:08:34 +0000 (UTC), Epawtows
wrote: It's been reported in many places that the MER teams are operating on "Mars time"..i.e., days that are ~24 hrs. and 39 minutes long. Does anyone know the details of how the discrepancy is made up? Whether to divide the Mars day like Earths (with each time period just a hair longer) or to add extra minutes onto the end of the day is a tricky question that has been debated in various settings over time with no clear winner. My inclination is that retaining the second as a fixed increment makes the most sense, with engineering calculations carried out, Un*x style, with everything converted to standard seconds. http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/spotl..._20040108.html implies that the "Mars watches" are using slowed time, as it talks about adding weights, not changing gear tooth counts. This makes a certain amount of sense when you are concerned with Mars solar time for a solar-powered rover. These, however, are mostly being used for purposes where second by second accuracy is not critical. I don't know whether this approach carries over to engineering calculations, hopefully some other poster with more detailed information will answer. ** James ** |
#3
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Mars -> Earth time
Epawtows wrote:
It's been reported in many places that the MER teams are operating on "Mars time"..i.e., days that are ~24 hrs. and 39 minutes long. Does anyone know the details of how the discrepancy is made up? I.E., do the clocks that the teams look at display? Did they create a 25th "hour" in the day that's only ~39 minutes long? Did they keep a 24-hour clock, but make the hour longer? And if the latter, did they add extra minutes to each hour, add extra seconds to each minute, make the second longer, or what? AIUI, the clocks simply go to 24:39 or so, then wrap round. Altering the second just gets messy, and there is no way to do it cleanly changing the number of minutes or seconds without abominations like "leap seconds". |
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