Fans of Mars will have to break out their champagne early in the new year.
NASA said that the new year on Mars began today and that the Perseverance rover deposited two cache of material that will be used in a future sample return mission.
"No, we're not accidentally celebrating early," the NASA Mars account joked, referring to the Gregorian calendar that most of the world follows. New years may have different traditions.
NASA and several other space agencies are looking for signs of ancient life on the Red Planet, which will lead to a joint NASA-European sample return mission in the 1930s.
There are amazing photos from the Perseverance rover's first year on Mars.
The first flyby of Mars took place on July 14, 1965, but for the Red Planet new year scientists begin counting from when the planet reached its northern spring equinox in 1955. It's useful to have a system, but an arbitrary point to begin.
The number of Mars years helps scientists keep track of long term observations.
It takes more time for the Red Planet to circle our sun than it does for us. The last time we rang in the new year on the Red Planet, Perseverance hadn't even arrived.
The last Martian new year was celebrated 11 days after the car arrived. Ingenuity has already completed 37 flights and is expected to return to the skies soon.
The co-author of Why Am I Taller is Elizabeth Howell. A book about space medicine is in the works. Follow us on social media, like us on Facebook (opens in new tab)
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