Happy New Year on Mars! NASA rings in Red Planet year 37

[Admin]

NASA celebrated the new year on Mars, which happens on Dec. 26 — days before the Gregorian calendar changes over to 2023 on Earth.

Happy New Year on Mars! NASA rings in Red Planet year 37 : Read more

 

[JaniceJames111]

If Mars has been around for a long time, what is being celebrated as Red Planet year 37?

 

[billslugg]

"The first Mars flyby was by Mariner 4 on July 14, 1965, but for the Red Planet new year scientists start counting from when the planet reached its northern spring equinox in 1955. "An arbitrary point to begin, but it’s useful to have a system," NASA officials wrote on Twitter."

 

[JaniceJames111]

Thanks for the reply. I know they claim it's arbitrary, but do you think there is a reason they started counting from that year?

 

[billslugg]

Here is what I could find:

"They picked Year 1 to correspond with the year of a global dust storm widely observed in 1956."

Mars' Calendar | The Planetary Society