LIVETime on Mars 23:52Perseverance’s day 2,004Curiosity’s day 5,039Earth–Mars 240.2M km · 149.2M miRadio delay 13 minSeason: start of northern springMars Year 39, day 9
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NewsEurope (ESA)

Happy new year on Mars: Mars Year 39 began on Sep 30

A new Martian year started at the northern spring equinox, 08:16 UTC on Sep 30, 2026, ESA said. It lasts 687 Earth days; Mars Year 40 begins in August 2028.

By Mars Progress · Edited by Aleksandar Simov

Published 1 min read

Mars seen whole, with its white northern polar cap at the top and the Valles Marineris canyons across the middle
Mars with its northern polar cap at the top, in a mosaic of pictures from NASA’s Viking Orbiter 1. Northern spring, the season that opens each Mars year, has just begun.Image: NASA/JPL/USGS

A new year began on Mars on Sep 30, 2026: Mars Year 39. It started at 08:16 UTC, when Mars reached the spring equinox in its northern half, ESA said.[1]

Mars years are counted from Mars Year 1, which began on Apr 11, 1955. ESA notes that the first year included what it calls the great dust storm of 1956.[1][2] Each year starts when Mars’s solar longitude, or 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, passes 0°, the start of northern spring.[2][3]

How long is a year on Mars?

687 Earth days, or about 669 Martian days, called sols.[3] That makes each season roughly twice as long as ours. They aren’t equal, because Mars’s orbit is stretched: northern spring, which has just begun, is the longest at 194 sols, and northern autumn the shortest at 142.[4]

So the season now starting will last until April 2027, by our engine’s count. Mars Year 40 begins on Aug 17, 2028.[1]

What the new year brings

The second half of a Martian year is often marked by fierce dust storms, some of which grow to cover the whole planet, ESA says.[1] Rovers also count their own days. Perseverance is on sol 2,004 and Curiosity on sol 5,039.

Our Mars clock shows the date on Mars, live: today it’s Mars Year 39, day 9.

Related

ToolWhat time is it on Mars?ReferenceMars factsReferenceMars glossary

Sources

  1. ESA — Happy New Year on MarsPrimary · checked Oct 2, 2026
  2. NASA Planetary Data System — start_mars_year (data dictionary)Primary · checked Oct 2, 2026
  3. NASA GISS — Mars24 Sunclock — Technical Notes on Mars Solar TimePrimary · checked Oct 2, 2026
  4. NASA Science — Mars: FactsPrimary · checked Oct 2, 2026