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The pattern of seven-day weeks repeats over a two-year cycle, i.e., the calendar year always begins on a Sunday in odd-numbered years, thus effecting a perpetual calendar for Mars. [ 27 ] Whereas previous proposals for a Martian calendar had not included an epoch, American astronomer I. M. Levitt developed a more complete system in 1954.
Extra-close oppositions of Mars happen every 15 to 17 years, when we pass between Mars and the Sun around the time of its perihelion (closest point to the Sun in orbit). The minimum distance between Earth and Mars has been declining over the years, and in 2003 the minimum distance was 55.76 million km, nearer than any such encounter in almost ...
At one point, 1.35 million Earth years ago, Mars had an eccentricity of roughly 0.002, much less than that of Earth today. [188] Mars's cycle of eccentricity is 96,000 Earth years compared to Earth's cycle of 100,000 years. [189] Mars has its closest approach to Earth in a synodic period of 779.94 days.
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A Martian year is approximately 668.6 sols, equivalent to approximately 687 Earth days [1] or 1.88 Earth years. The sol was adopted in 1976 during the Viking Lander missions and is a measure of time mainly used by NASA when, for example, scheduling the use of a Mars rover .
Mars reaches the same solar flux as that of the Earth when it first formed 4.5 billion years ago from today. [95] < 5 billion The Andromeda Galaxy will have fully merged with the Milky Way, forming an elliptical galaxy dubbed "Milkomeda". [98] There is also a small chance of the Solar System being ejected.
The Mars 2020 mission, consisting of the rover Perseverance and helicopter Ingenuity, was launched on July 30, 2020, and landed in Jezero crater on Mars on February 18, 2021. [1] As of January 10, 2025, Perseverance has been on the planet for 1384 sols (1422 total days ; 3 years, 327 days ).
Curiosity rover on Mars (5 August 2015) The Mars Science Laboratory and its rover, Curiosity, were launched from Earth on 26 November 2011. As of February 7, 2025, Curiosity has been on the planet Mars for 4446 sols (4568 total days; 12 years, 185 days) since landing on 6 August 2012. (See Current status.)