Scientists have observed that the red planet is accelerating at approximately four milliarcseconds per year, causing the days to end a fraction of a millisecond sooner. However, the exact cause of this change is still unknown.
Some possible explanations include ice buildup on the planet's polar caps or post-glacial rebound, which is when land rises due to ice removal.
NASA has suggested that a planet's mass shifts can cause it to accelerate, like an ice skater pulling their arms in while spinning.
These changes in spin speed were detected using data from NASA's InSight Mars lander, which operated on the planet for four years until its power ran out last December.
The findings are documented in the Nature journal, with Sebastien Le Maistre serving as the lead author. According to the paper, the variations are "just a few tens of centimeters over a Martian year," it takes considerable data to accumulate before these variations are noticeable.
The paper analyzed data from the first 900 days of InSight's mission on Mars. The lander's advanced radio technology, coupled with NASA's Deep Space Network, provided scientists with observations by beaming a radio signal to the lander and analyzing reflected signals for small changes in frequency.
There is still more data to be mined from InSight's mission, and Mr. Le Maistre believes this "historic experiment" is just the beginning.
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