Mars Spinning Faster: NASA’s InSight Lander Unveils Mysteries of the Red Planet’s Rotation

2023-08-13 02:31:37
Data from NASA’s Insight lander has shown that Mars is spinning faster, according to a new study. The mysteries surrounding Mars just added one more. NASA’s research team used the Deep Space Network, a space communication network on Earth, to track the Insight lander rotating with Mars for four years. They sent a radio signal from Earth to InSight and measured the change caused by the Doppler effect in the signal reflected back to the spacecraft. The Doppler effect is similar to the change in pitch of a siren as an ambulance or other vehicle passes by. Over the life of the exploration mission, the researchers performed radio-scientific analyzes of the measurements to find out how fast Mars is currently rotating. The rotation measurements obtained are about five times more accurate than those obtained by NASA’s Viking Mars lander in the 1970s. By the time the InSight ran out of power in December 2022 and ceased operations, the researchers found that Mars’ rotation was accelerating by a few centimeters each year. Details of the study are reported in a paper recently published in the scientific journal Nature. According to NASA, the InSight’s RISE instrument found that Mars’ rotation is accelerating by about 4 milliseconds per year. This corresponds to the length of a day on Mars being shortened by less than 1/1000th of a second per year. What causes rotational acceleration? According to NASA, there are three main possibilities: Long-term motions of Martian interior materials and depth Long-term trends in atmospheric circulation caused by atmospheric torque on Mars Long-term accumulation of ice at the polar caps Post-Ice Age recoil from the upheaval of the landmasses in which they are located (fluctuations in planetary landmasses can cause rotational acceleration. This is the effect of an ice skater spinning with arms extended on their It’s similar to spinning faster when you pull it closer, NASA explains.)
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