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It may be millions of miles away, but Earth hasn’t forgotten that Mars is having a great celebration. On February 7, 2021, the red planet celebrates the turn of the year, at least according to our calendar on Earth.
Since a Mars year is 687 Earth days (and 668.6 Mars days, or suns), the occasion only comes about every two Earth years, marked by the spring / autumn equinox in the northern and southern hemispheres, respectively.
Since the current Martian calendar began in 1955, that makes the new year the 36th year of Mars.
It is going to be very important to our planetary friend. Three missions are scheduled to arrive to Mars in the next few days. The United Arab Emirates has sent an orbiting probe called Al-Amal, or Hope, which will arrive first on February 9. You will study the atmosphere and climate of Mars, with a view to assessing the planet for human settlement.
China’s Tianwen-1 is expected to reach the orbit of Mars on February 10. The mission consists of a solar powered orbiter, lander and rover, the latter two of which will be deployed to the surface in May, for a comprehensive study of the Utopia impact basin.
The United States sent NASA’s Perseverance, a rover scheduled to land on February 18 at Jezero Crater, a clay-rich target, evidence that the region once contained water. The rover will search for evidence of past life and habitability, and collect samples to be returned to Earth for two other missions currently under development.
It is not a coincidence that all three missions arrive at the same time: due to the challenges involved in sending a spacecraft to Mars, there is a window that appears approximately every two years and two months that allows a spacecraft to arrive at Mars with minimum energy. necessary. That window was the most recent from July to September of last year.
That the newcomers are happening in the new year of Mars is therefore a happy coincidence. Since all three missions will explore different parts of Mars, Mars Year 36 promises to be a brave new era for Mars science.
Happy New Year, Mars! We hope you like your new robotic companions. And may we celebrate with you in person soon.
You can read more about the Martian year on the ESA website.
