The scientific research of Space is constant, and one of the most prominent objects of study at present is the planet Mars. They also detect and confirm that Mars is accelerating its spin. This increase in rotation speed is a phenomenon whose causes have not yet been discovered. Despite this lack of knowledge, scientists have formulated several theories to address this enigma.
Mars accelerates its spin and its days are shorter.
The length of a Martian day does not differ much from what happens on Earth, lasting 24 hours and 37 minutes. Recently, a mission sent to Mars, InSight Mars Lander, revealed that the days became shorter over the years. According to information gathered by the space station, they are shortening by three quarters of a millisecond for each revolution of the planet around the Sun.
One of the theories described by scientists is that the acceleration is due to the redistribution of its mass. In order to spin faster, the redistribution of mass is essential, as for example skateboarders do by gathering their arms close to their bodies. This explanation can also have two main reasons. The accumulation of water at the poles or the resurgence of ancient glaciers under the Martian equator.
All this information is included in a publication in the journal Nature. The publishers studied the erratic spin of Mars due to its metallic liquid center. The study deals with the first 900 days of the aforementioned mission on the red planet. A period of time that the authors consider sufficient to detect the alterations in the planet’s rotation.
The InSight Mars mission provided very useful information.
To carry it out, they used an instrument called RISE, which uses radio waves to collect information. This instrument is very accurate and allows scientists to make conclusions with greater certainty than those collected on previous missions. The InSight Mars Lander mission spent four years on the red planet collecting all kinds of information. Unfortunately, it ended in December 2022 when it ran out of power. The information was very useful for further studies.
One of the scheduled tasks of this mission was to drill into the Martian surface with a drill attached to it to a depth of 5 meters. However, the surface of Mars is harder than that of the Earth, and at a depth of 30 centimeters, the system stalled.
Scientists detected that on Mars the opposite of what is happening on our planet is occurring. While Mars is accelerating its rotation, the Earth is slowly decelerating, due to the braking effect imposed by the Moon. Our planet must redistribute its mass with the effect caused by the Moon “pulling” the oceans with the tides.
They hope that from the information collected by the InSight mission they will be able to discover the true causes of the Martian deceleration.
