The Month

Structure

Does a Martian calendar need months, or other units between day and year?

There is no astronomical cycle on Mars that corresponds to our idea of a month. The moons of Mars are tiny in comparison to Earth’s Moon, and they are much closer to Mars than the Moon is to the Earth. Phobos orbits Mars three times per day, and Deimos circles Mars in a little more than a day.
Table Table of Month Names and Lengths


How many days should there typically be in a month?

General

21 days (32 equal-duration months)

Pro

Con

Source Documents:
Document Further Thoughts on Vophicism
Mark Knoke

23 to 34 days (24 equal-arc months)

Pro

Con

Months come in twelve different sizes: 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, and 34 days. Collect them all! And feel free to compose your own mnemonic rhyme!

The proposition that a civil calendar should be composed of months that reflect the division of a planet's orbit into equal arcs is specious. Only space scientists care where a planet is in terms of arc, and they don't use civil calendars in their calculations, they use Julian Days. A civil calendar should be as simple as possible for the truck drivers, accountants, musicians, athletes, and all of the other people who use it.

Source Documents:
Document Martian Calendar
Anton Sherwood

27 to 40 days (20 equal-arc months)

Pro

Con

Months come in eleven different sizes: 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 34, 36, 37, 38, 39, and 40 days. Collect them all! And feel free to compose your own mnemonic rhyme!

The proposition that a civil calendar should be composed of months that reflect the division of a planet's orbit into equal arcs is specious. Only space scientists care where a planet is in terms of arc, and they don't use civil calendars in their calculations, they use Julian Days. A civil calendar should be as simple as possible for the truck drivers, accountants, musicians, athletes, and all of the other people who use it.

Source Documents:
Document The QS Calendar
Jelmer Oosthoek

28 days (24 equal-duration months)

Pro

The number 24 has many factors, being divisible by 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, and 12. Dividing the year by 4 provides an even division of the year that is analogous to the seasons that are defined by the equinoxes and solstices (spring, summer, autumn, winter). Dividing the year by 8 approximates the human gestational trimester (266 days / (3 * 1.0274913) = 86.3 Martian days). Dividing the year by 8 also approximates a quarter of an Earth year, which is a standard reporting period in accounting and finance (365.25 days / (4 * 1.0274913) = 88.9 Martian days).

The number 28 has several factors, being divisible by 2, 4, 7, and 14. A 28-day month contains exactly 4 seven-day weeks. Divisibility by 7 makes a 7-day-week perpetual calendar easier to construct.

On Earth, the average menstrual cycle is 28 days, and there is at present no reason to expect that this cycle will be substantially different on Mars. Everyone recognizes the importance of the diurnal cycle in regulating human activity. We all need to get a good night’s sleep and eat several meals a day. The other human cycle that is necessary to human existence is the menstrual cycle. Since this is a natural human cycle of time, incorporating this cycle into a Martian calendar is highly desirable. It is only prudent to consider human factors in the design of any system that has a human interface. A calendar is very obviously a system that has a human interface, and the menstrual cycle is very obviously a human factor.

Con

Whether or not something like half the population has a menstrual cycle of something like 28 days is not terribly significant unless they all start and stop essentially at the same time. Otherwise it is just so much noise superimposed over a regular wave.

Source Documents:
Document The Darian Defrost Calendar
Frans Blok
Document The Rotterdam Month and Weekday Naming System
Frans Blok
Document Waar blijft de tijd op Mars?
Frans Blok
Document The Darian System
Thomas Gangale
Document An Easily Understood Calendar and Time System for Mars
Leon G. Heron
Document Rationale for the Martian Calendar's Structure
Bill Hollon
Document The Utopian Calendar
Mars Time Group
Document The Areosynchronous Calendar
Shaun Moss
Document The Kepler Calendar
Shaun Moss
Document Martian Dreams Time System
Linda Naughton and Robert O'Meara
Document Elemental Martian Calendars
Terry Phelan
Document Excerpts from Red Mars
Kim Stanley Robinson
Document Martian Clock and Calendar
Mickey D. Schmidt
Document Calendario en Marte
Miguel Angel Serra Martín
Document Mars Calendar
Miguel Angel Serra Martín
Document Martian Clock and Calendar
Mickey D. Schmidt
Document Martian Calendar
Anton Sherwood
Document A Calendar for Mars
Josef Šurán
Document Options for Martian Timekeeping
William Woods

29 days (23 equal-duration months)

Pro

Con

Both 29 and 23 are prime numbers, making division of either the month into smaller units (such as weeks) or the year into larger units (such as quarters or trimesters) problematic.

Source Documents:
Document Simplest Possible Mars Calendar Used in the Novel As It Is On Mars
Thomas W. Cronin
Document Life on Mars - A Shareware Strategy Game
Innaky
Document Elemental Martian Calendars
Terry Phelan

29-30 days (22-23 equal-duration months)

This system uses 29-day and 30-day months to keep in sychronization with months on the Gregorian calendar on Earth.

Pro

The number 30 has many factors, being divisible by 2, 3, 5, 6, 10, and 15.

Con

Both 29 and 23 are prime numbers, making division of either the month into smaller units (such as weeks) or the year into larger units (such as quarters or trimesters) problematic. The number 22 has few factors, being uniquely divisible by only 2 and 11.

Source Documents:
Document Time on Mars
John J. G. Savard

30 days (22 equal-duration months)

Pro

The number 30 has many factors, being divisible by 2, 3, 5, 6, 10, and 15. A 30-day month is the approximate length of an Earth month.

Con

The number 22 has few factors, being uniquely divisible by only 2 and 11.

Source Documents:
Document A Mars Proleptic Calendar and Sol-Date Timing Reference
Michael Allison
Document The Fortieth of July
Pierre Hallet
Document The Thothian Wheel
Fred Hightower
Document A Four Season Split-year Calendar for Mars
Peter Kokh
Document The "Mars Pulse" Calendar
Peter Kokh
Document Elemental Martian Calendars
Terry Phelan
Document A Mars Calendar
Richard Weidner

32 days (21 equal-duration months)

Pro

The number 32 has several factors, being divisible by 2, 4, and 8, and 16.

Con

The number 21 has few factors, being uniquely divisible by only 3 and 7.

Source Documents:
Document Calendar for Mars
Mike Kretsch

33 days (20 equal-duration months)

Pro

The number 20 has several factors, being divisible by 2, 4, 5, and 10. Dividing the year by 4 provides an even division of the year that is analogous to the seasons that are defined by the equinoxes and solstices (spring, summer, autumn, winter).

Con

The number 33 has few factors, being uniquely divisible by only 3 and 11.

Source Documents:
Document The Millennium Mars Calendar
James M. Graham and Kandis Elliot

35 days (19 equal-duration months)

Pro

A 35-day month contains exactly five 7-day weeks.

Con

The number 19 is prime, making division of the year into smaller units (such as quarters or trimesters) problematic. The number 35 has few factors, being uniquely divisible by only 5 and 7.

Source Documents:
Document A Thought for the Future
William H. Becker

36 days (18 or 19 equal-duration months)

The difference in the length of the solar days on Earth and Mars amounts to approximately one Earth day in 36 Martian days. For every month that passes, Martians would experience one less day (36) than people on Earth (37).

Pro

The number 36 has several factors, being divisible by 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 12, and 18.

In this system, the first day of each month, Airy Mean Time, would begin near midnight Universal Time Coordinated on Earth.

Con

There are 18.572 such 36-day months in a 668.9-day year, so years would need to alternate between 18 and 19 months, similar to luni-solar calendars on Earth. Also, since the relationship of Martian days to Earth days is not exact, a month would need to be lengthened to 37 days every 5.4 Martian years.

It is not clear that beginning each month near UTC midnight would be of any significance to Martians, and would justify the complexities of this system.

37 days (18 equal-duration months)

Pro

The number 18 has several factors, being divisible by 2, 3, 6, and 9.

Con

The number 37 is prime, making division of the month into smaller units (such as weeks) problematic.

Source Documents:
Document Arih Martian Calendar
Igor Arih
Document Arihrov Marsovski Koledar
Igor Arih
Document Excerpts from Guide to Mars
Patrick Moore
document Salvas Calendar System for Mars
Keith Salvas

42 days (16 equal-duration months)

Pro

The number 16 has several factors, being divisible by 2, 4, and 8. Dividing the year by 4 provides an even division of the year that is analogous to the seasons that are defined by the equinoxes and solstices (spring, summer, autumn, winter). Dividing the year by 8 approximates the human gestational trimester (266 days / (3 * 1.0274913) = 86.3 Martian days). Dividing the year by 8 also approximates a quarter of an Earth year, which is a standard reporting period in accounting and finance (365.25 days / (4 * 1.0274913) = 88.9 Martian days).

The number 42 has many factors, being divisible by 2, 3, 6, 7, 14, and 21. The system represents a compromise with corresponding terrestrial units: there are 33% more months (16 versus 12), and each 42-day month is 35-40% longer than an Earth month. A 42-day month contains exactly six 7-day weeks, or exactly seven 6-day weeks.

Con

The year not evenly divisible into trimesters.

Source Documents:
Document Time Measures on Mars
Robert G. Aitken
Document The Fortieth of July
Pierre Hallet
Document Towards a Better Martian Calendar
Mark Knoke
Document Calendar for Mars
Robert S. Richardson

49 days (14 equal-duration months)

Pro

Con

This calendar is based on the erroneous idea that there are 686 sols in the Martian year.

Source Documents:
Document Le Calendrier Martien
Olivier Prud'homme

42 to 70 days (12 approx. equal-arc, integral-week months)

Pro

This system approximately divides the year into the uneven seasons that are defined by the equinoxes and solstices (spring, summer, autumn, winter), the natural divisions of the Martian year. Each month contains an integral number of weeks, so that each month begins on the first day of the week.

Con

Months come in five different sizes: 42, 49, 56, 63, and 70 days. Collect them all! And feel free to compose your own mnemonic rhyme!

The proposition that a civil calendar should be composed of months that reflect the division of a planet's orbit into equal arcs is specious. Only space scientists care where a planet is in terms of arc, and they don't use civil calendars in their calculations, they use Julian Days. A civil calendar should be as simple as possible for the truck drivers, accountants, musicians, athletes, and all of the other people who use it.

Consider what it would be like to divide the day into hours of dissimilar length. Suppose you worked an eight-hour day, but those work hours were 90 minutes each. All of your off hours would be only 45 minutes in duration. Does that sound like a good deal to you? Suppose a meter or a kilogram had varying values throughout the day, or from one day to the next, or from week to week? Consistency is the underlying principle of any system of measurement. Varying the value of a unit of measurement doesn’t make any sense.

Source Documents:
Document Martian Timekeeping
Geoffrey Briggs and Howard Houben

46 to 66 days (12 equal-arc months)

Included in this class are so-called "stretched Gregorian calendars."

Pro

This system divides the year into the uneven seasons that are defined by the equinoxes and solstices (spring, summer, autumn, winter), the natural divisions of the Martian year.

Con

Only two months out of 12 have the same number of days. That's right, months come in eleven different sizes: 46, 47, 48, 50, 51, 54, 56, 60, 61, 65, and 66 days. Collect them all! And feel free to compose your own mnemonic rhyme!

The proposition that a civil calendar should be composed of months that reflect the division of a planet's orbit into equal arcs is specious. Only space scientists care where a planet is in terms of arc, and they don't use civil calendars in their calculations, they use Julian Days. A civil calendar should be as simple as possible for the truck drivers, accountants, musicians, athletes, and all of the other people who use it.

Consider what it would be like to divide the day into hours of dissimilar length. Suppose you worked an eight-hour day, but those work hours were 90 minutes each. All of your off hours would be only 45 minutes in duration. Does that sound like a good deal to you? Suppose a meter or a kilogram had varying values throughout the day, or from one day to the next, or from week to week? Consistency is the underlying principle of any system of measurement. Varying the value of a unit of measurement doesn’t make any sense.

Source Documents:
Document Seasons on Mars
Frank N. Bauregger
Document The Darian System
Thomas Gangale
Document Zubrin's Mars Calendar
Peter Kokh
Document An Explanation of Zubrin's Mars Calendar
Paul J. Thomas
Document A Calendar for Mars
Robert Zubrin
Document A Calendar for the Planet Mars
Robert Zubrin

50 to 57 days (12 unequal months)

In this system, one month has 50 days, four months have 55 days, and seven months have 57 days.

Pro

Con

Consider what it would be like to divide the day into hours of dissimilar length. Suppose you worked an eight-hour day, but those work hours were 90 minutes each. All of your off hours would be only 45 minutes in duration. Does that sound like a good deal to you? Suppose a meter or a kilogram had varying values throughout the day, or from one day to the next, or from week to week? Consistency is the underlying principle of any system of measurement. Varying the value of a unit of measurement doesn’t make any sense.

Source Documents:
Document Mars Time
Elysium Mars

56 days (12 equal-duration months)

Pro

The system retains the same number of months as on Earth. The number 12 has several factors, being divisible by 2, 3, 4, and 6. Dividing the year by 4 provides an even division of the year that is analogous to the seasons that are defined by the equinoxes and solstices (spring, summer, autumn, winter). A 56-day month contains exactly eight 7-day weeks.

Con

A 56-day month is nearly twice as long as an Earth month.

Source Documents:
Document Mars Calendar
Blort
Document Time Keeping on Mars
Alan Dechert
Document 600-Year Martian Calendar
Alan Dechert
Document The Fortieth of July
Pierre Hallet
Document Excerpts from Mars Underground
William K. Hartmann
Document Martian Calendar
Roger E. Kuiper
Document SCDTL Calendar and Clock for Mars
Lance Latham
Document It's About Time
I. M. Levitt
Document Mars Clock and Calendar
I. M. Levitt
Document Calendario en Marte
Miguel Angel Serra Martín
Document Mars Calendar
Miguel Angel Serra Martín
Document Martian Timekeeping
Anders Ström

61 days (11 equal-duration months)

Pro

Con

The number 61 is prime, making division of the month into smaller units (such as weeks) problematic. The number 11 is also prime, making division of the year into larger units (such as quarters or trimesters) problematic.

Source Documents:
Document Space Studies 200 Group Project
Ryan Kramer et al.

67 days (10 equal-duration months)

Pro

Con

The number 67 is prime, making division of the month into smaller units (such as weeks) problematic. The number 10 has few factors, being uniquely divisible by only 2 and 5, making division of the year into larger units (such as quarters or trimesters) problematic.

This unit should not exist

Pro

Months and weeks do not make sense for the planet Mars since there is no comparable influence of a large Moon around Mars. Earth months have a context, either a lunar cycle or a particular type of weather or ceremonial observance that makes them meaningful. But of a Martian month -- of something around 30 sols in length -- what is the comparable context? What do you associate with a particular Martian month? What do you associate with a particular Martian month? Fireflies, blizzards, Sunny humid days at the beach, intense shopping? The requirement for months on Mars cannot be supposed to exist.

Con

The measurement of time is more than a matter of astronomy. At its core, it is a matter of human needs. There is a demonstrated sociological need to divide the year into smaller units. Students attend school according to semesters or quarters. Corporations report quarterly earnings. Aside from the diurnal wake-sleep cycle, the most fundamental human biological rhythm is the menstrual cycle.

Since numbering "the days straight through from 1 to the end of the year" as the primary method of reckoning time has never served the needs of any human culture to date, it probably will not do so in the future either. It ought to be obvious that organization requires grouping together a manageable number of similar items in a hierarchical structure. Examples of this principle are everywhere. Humans have a basic need to organize their world--any world--into relatively small numbers. This aspect of human nature points up the necessity of organizing the Martian year into months, and the months into weeks. The requirement for months on Mars can be supposed to exist, and furthermore, it cannot reasonably be supposed NOT to exist, because the basic needs of human organization remain the same. We can suppose sub-units of the year to exist, simply because 669 is too large of a number to use as a basis for organization.

The fact that there is no comparable astronomical cycle to the month on Mars is not relevant. What is relevant is that there is no astronomical cycle on Mars that conflicts with it. This allows us to import this humanly indispensable unit of time to Mars with no trade-off, no down side.

Source Documents:
Document Calendrier Martien du GCM
François Forget et al.
Document Excerpts from Martian Rainbow
Robert L. Forward
Document Excerpts from Across the Zodiac
Percy Greg
Document A New Calendar and Clock for the Planet Mars
Manfred Krutein
Document Excerpts from The Greening of Mars
James Lovelock and Michael Allaby
Document The Martian Calendar
M. Vertregt
Document Martian Year Revisited
M. Vertregt and Francis Graham