Scientists Pinpoint Why Time Runs Faster on Mars

Time isn't just weird on Mars—it's literally quicker. As Vice reports, scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have now calculated exactly how much faster time flows on the Red Planet, and the difference is no small rounding error: An atomic clock on Mars would gain 477 microseconds per day compared to one on Earth, and that lead shifts by up to 226 microseconds depending on where Mars is in its orbit. That means Martian time isn't just offset—it's variable, which is a key concern for any future navigation, communication, or timing system that needs microsecond-level accuracy. "That's not huge, but that's big in the context of precision measurements," said NIST physicist Bijunath Patla.

We already knew Mars keeps its own schedule. Its days run about 40 minutes longer than Earth's, and its year spans 687 days. But the new finding confirms something physicists have long predicted. NASA notes that general relativity—the same physics that make Interstellar so mind-bending—explains that clocks run faster where gravity is weaker. And because Mars has less mass and lower surface gravity, clocks there should tick slightly quicker than those on Earth. But the NIST team's work went a step further by quantifying how much quicker, and revealing that the rate itself changes day to day. Patla and his colleagues traced this shifting drift to the gravitational interplay among Mars, Earth, the sun—and even the moon—which subtly alters Mars' motion and gravitational field over time. "We've been studying this classic three-body problem," Patla said. "But now it's become a four-body problem."

Studying the time difference is about far more than just curiosity. Any future astronauts, spacecraft, or autonomous rovers operating on Mars will need clocks that stay synchronized with Earth despite the constantly shifting gravitational influence. Even tiny timing mismatches accumulate, throwing off positioning systems, communication schedules, and scientific measurements. The team's work provides the first precise map of how Martian time actually behaves across an orbit, which is a foundational step toward interplanetary navigation. And while the daily difference is microscopic, the principle is profound: Time isn't the same across the solar system.