NASA Says Mars' Rotation Is Speeding Up, , While Earth Slows Down.<br />'Newsweek' reports that the length of days <br />on Mars is getting shorter as the planet has <br />been observed spinning faster and faster. .<br />According to scientists, the Red Planet's <br />rotation has increased at a rate <br />of about 4 milliarcseconds per year. .<br />A paper published in the journal 'Nature' <br />details how the Martian day has been shortening <br />by a fraction of a millisecond every year.<br />Now, a martian day, otherwise known as a Sol, <br />lasts 24 hours, 39 minutes and 35 seconds.<br />What we're looking for are variations <br />that are just a few tens of centimeters over <br />the course of a Martian year. It takes a very <br />long time and a lot of data to accumulate <br />before we can even see these variations, Sebastien Le Maistre, Lead author and RISE's <br />principal investigator, via 'Newsweek'.<br />Scientists looked at data from the Rotation <br />and Interior Structure Experiment, or RISE, <br />onboard NASA's Insight Mars lander.<br />The instrument measured the precise rotation <br />of Mars, as well as the planet's wobble. .<br />It's a historic experiment. We have spent <br />a lot of time and energy preparing for <br />the experiment and anticipating these <br />discoveries. But despite this, we were still <br />surprised along the way—and it's not over, <br />since RISE still has a lot to reveal about Mars, Sebastien Le Maistre, Lead author and RISE's <br />principal investigator, via 'Newsweek'.<br />'Newsweek' reports that Earth's rotation <br />has actually been slowing down <br />over the past few centuries. .<br />Despite this, 2020 saw 28 of <br />the shortest days recorded since <br />records started being kept in the 1960s.<br />On July 19, 2020, the Earth completed its <br />rotation 1.47 milliseconds short of 24 hours, <br />and on July 26 it was 1.5 milliseconds fast.
