A Martian day, called a sol, lasts roughly 24 hours and 37–39 minutes, making daily life on Mars feel surprisingly familiar even though a Martian year is much longer than Earth’s
Length of a sol
Definition and duration
A Martian solar day, or sol, is only a little longer than an Earth day. Published values place a sol at about 24 hours and 39 minutes by solar measure and roughly 24 hours and 37 minutes in common summaries.
Martian year and orbit
Year length and orbital differences
A Martian year equals about 669 sols, which is approximately 687 Earth days, because Mars orbits the Sun at a greater average distance than Earth and travels more slowly along a larger orbital path.
Distance from the Sun
Average orbital distance
Mars orbits at an average distance from the Sun near 228 million kilometres, compared with Earth’s average of about 150 million kilometres, accounting for the longer orbital period and season timing differences.
Implications for humans
Daily rhythm and long-term planning
The close match between a sol and an Earth day makes scheduling work shifts and daily routines straightforward for future missions, but the nearly doubled year length introduces challenges for mission planning, biological cycles tied to seasonal change and personal events such as birthdays and anniversaries.
Scientific and operational notes
Timekeeping and mission practice
NASA and mission teams use sols to schedule rover activities and local solar time at landing sites, because local daylight governs power and observation windows. Sols are convenient for operations even though sidereal and solar day definitions differ slightly.