New data collected by NASA’s InSight lander on Mars reveals that the planet’s rotation has accelerated, compared to its historical pace.

The retired InSight mission was equipped with an array of sophisticated tools, including antennae and a radio transponder known as RISE (Rotation and Interior Structure Experiment).

These instruments were effectively utilized to monitor and record Mars’ rotation over the course of its initial 900 days on the planet, CNN reported.

Astronomers have deduced that Mars’ rate of rotation is undergoing an increase of roughly 4 milliarcseconds per year, resulting in a slight reduction in the length of a Martian day by a fraction of a millisecond annually.

To provide a point of reference, a day on Mars lasts approximately 40 minutes longer than a day on Earth.

Despite the seemingly minute nature of this acceleration, researchers remain uncertain about its underlying cause.

Yet, they propose that it could be attributed to the accumulation of ice at the planet’s poles or the upward movement of landmasses that were once submerged beneath ice.

This shift in a planet’s mass has the potential to induce an acceleration in its spin.

Written by staff