Live tool · Mars clock
What time is it on Mars?
It’s 23:52 on Mars’s standard clock, Mars time (MTC)Coordinated Mars Time (MTC) is a proposed name for Mars’s version of UTC: the average solar time at the prime meridian, through the crater Airy-0, which NASA’s Mars24 calls Airy Mean Time.More in the glossary. At Perseverance’s crater it’s 05:02 (night); at Curiosity’s, 09:02 (morning).
Updated Sources (7)
Sols today
Every mission counts its own days, called SolA sol is a day on Mars — 24 h 39 min 35 s, about 40 minutes longer than ours — and rovers count them from the day they land.More in the glossary, from the day it landed. Each rover also keeps the clock of its landing spot, so its team knows when the Sun is up there.[4][5]
| Rover | Today’s sol | Local time |
|---|---|---|
| PerseveranceJezero Crater · landed Feb 18, 2021 | 2,004 | 05:02night |
| CuriosityGale Crater · landed Aug 6, 2012 | 5,039 | 09:02morning |
Sol 0 is landing day for both missions.
Seasons and the Mars calendar
Mars Year 39 began on Sep 30, 2026, at the start of spring in Mars’s northern half. Scientists count Mars years from Mars Year 1, which began on Apr 11, 1955. A Mars year lasts about 669 sols, or 687 Earth days, and its seasons are uneven because Mars’s orbit is stretched: northern spring is the longest and northern autumn the shortest.[2][3][7]
| Northern season | Starts | Ls | Lasts |
|---|---|---|---|
| SpringNowAutumn in the south | 0° | 193 sols | |
| SummerWinter in the south | 90° | 179 sols | |
| AutumnSpring in the south | 180° | 143 sols | |
| WinterSummer in the south | 270° | 154 sols |
Dates computed by the site’s Mars engine: each season starts when Mars reaches that Season (Ls)Ls is Mars’s position around the Sun in degrees — 0° starts northern spring, 90° summer, 180° autumn and 270° winter — so it tells you the season.More in the glossary angle. Mars Year 40 begins on Aug 17, 2028.
How does Mars time work?
A day on Mars is 39 minutes 35 seconds longer than ours, so Mars clocks split the longer day into 24 slightly longer hours. Mars time (MTC)Coordinated Mars Time (MTC) is a proposed name for Mars’s version of UTC: the average solar time at the prime meridian, through the crater Airy-0, which NASA’s Mars24 calls Airy Mean Time.More in the glossary, a proposed name for what NASA’s Mars24 calls Airy Mean Time, is the average time at Mars’s zero line of longitude, which runs through the crater Airy-0, the way UTC is the time at Greenwich.[6][1]
Each spot on Mars also has its own Local mean solar timeLocal mean solar time is the clock a rover team works by: the average time of day at the rover’s spot, ignoring the Sun’s seasonal drift.More in the glossary, shifted from MTC by one Mars hour for every 15° of longitude. Curiosity sits about 60° east of Perseverance, so its clock runs about four Mars hours ahead.
How we calculate this
We use NASA’s Mars24 algorithm (Allison and McEwen, 2000), computed in your browser every second from your device’s clock. The site’s tests check it against the worked examples NASA publishes with the algorithm. Rover times are each mission’s own clock, local mean solar time at its landing site, which is how the teams count sols. True solar time adds the Sun’s seasonal drift.[1]
Questions
What time is it on Mars right now?
23:52 Coordinated Mars Time. Like Earth, Mars has many local times: it’s 05:02 at Perseverance and 09:02 at Curiosity.
How long is a day on Mars?
24 h 39 min 35 s. Scientists call a Mars day a SolA sol is a day on Mars — 24 h 39 min 35 s, about 40 minutes longer than ours — and rovers count them from the day they land.More in the glossary.
Does Mars have time zones?
Not official ones. MTC works like UTC, and each mission keeps the local time of its landing site.
What is the date on Mars today?
Mars Year 39, sol 9: the start of northern spring.
How is Mars time calculated?
From the Earth date, with NASA’s Mars24 formulas. They turn the time into a Mars Sol Date, then into the time of day at any longitude.
Sources
- NASA GISS — Mars24 Sunclock — algorithm and worked examplesPrimary · checked Oct 2, 2026
- NASA NSSDCA — Mars Fact SheetPrimary · checked Oct 2, 2026
- NASA Planetary Data System — start_mars_year (data dictionary)Primary · checked Oct 2, 2026
- NASA Science — Mars 2020: PerseverancePrimary · checked Oct 2, 2026
- NASA Science — Mars Science Laboratory: Curiosity RoverPrimary · checked Oct 2, 2026
- NASA GISS — Mars24 Sunclock — Technical Notes on Mars Solar TimePrimary · checked Oct 4, 2026
- NASA Science — Mars: FactsPrimary · checked Oct 4, 2026