What does the NASA term Sol mean?

The NASA term "Sol" is short for Solar day, which is the time it takes Mars to revolve once around its own axis. The Martian solar day is 24-hours 37-minutes 22.663-seconds long; therefore, it is 2.7 % longer than the Earth's solar day. The Earth takes 24-hours to revolve around its own axis; however, other planets take a different amount of time.

Spacecraft sent to Mars is usually equipped with a special clock called "The Mars Clock", which keeps track of the local time, in addition the NASA team members that are involved with Mars projects use special wristwatches that are specially designed and calibrated to display the Martian local time.

Related Articles