Adjusting To a Martian Day More Difficult Than Expected

schwit1 writes: Research and actual experience have found that adjusting to the slightly longer Martian day is not as easy as you would think. "If you're on Mars, or at least work by a Mars clock, you have to figure out how to put up with the exhausting challenge of those extra 40 minutes. To be exact, the Martian day is 24 hours, 39 minutes, and 35 seconds long, a length of day that doesn't coincide with the human body's natural rhythms. Scientists, Mars rover drivers, and everyone else in the space community call the Martian day a "sol" to differentiate it from an Earth day. While it doesn't seem like a big difference, that extra time adds up pretty quickly. It's like heading west by two time zones every three days. Call it 'rocket lag.'"

Comments

Wrong conclusion

[hackertourist]

Living on Mars time is difficult when you're living on Earth and are subject to Earth's day/night cycle.

Sensory deprivation experiments where people live without clocks and daylight for more than a few days show that people tend to lengthen their "day" to much more than a Mars sol (up to 36 hours IIRC), indicating that adjusting to Mars time is feasible when you're actually on Mars.

Sign Me Up

[Warhaven]

40 extra minutes of sleep each morning? Yes, please!

Let's stay focused, people

[puzzled_decoy]

It's not the length of a day that will impact Mars-dwellers the most, it will be their internet speed.

DST

[stafil]

Let's fix it on Earth fist, and stop fucking with our circadian cycles twice a year!