The MarsDial is a

sundial A sundial is a horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the word, it consists of a fl ...

that was devised for missions to

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmos ...

. It is used to calibrate the Pancam cameras of the Mars landers. MarsDials were placed on the ''

Spirit Spirit or spirits may refer to: Liquor and other volatile liquids * Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks * Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol * Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...

'' and ''

Opportunity Opportunity may refer to: Places * Opportunity, Montana, an unincorporated community, United States * Opportunity, Nebraska, an unincorporated community, United States * Opportunity, Washington, a former census-designated place, United States * ...

Mars rovers A Mars rover is a motor vehicle designed to travel on the surface of Mars. Rovers have several advantages over stationary landers: they examine more territory, they can be directed to interesting features, they can place themselves in sunny po ...

, inscribed with the words "Two worlds, One sun" and the word "Mars" in 22 languages.About the Pancam and calibration target
/ref> The MarsDial can function as a

gnomon A gnomon (; ) is the part of a sundial that casts a shadow. The term is used for a variety of purposes in mathematics and other fields. History A painted stick dating from 2300 BC that was excavated at the astronomical site of Taosi is the o ...

, the stick or other vertical part of a sundial.Cornell University – Sundial
/ref> The length and direction of the shadow cast by the stick allows observers to calculate the time of day. The sundial can also be used to tell which way is North, and to overcome the limitations of a magnetic north different from a true north. The sundial design team included

Bill Nye William Sanford Nye (born November 27, 1955), popularly known as Bill Nye the Science Guy, is an American mechanical engineer, science communicator, and television presenter. He is best known as the host of the science television show ''Bill ...

"The Science Guy,"

space art "Space art" (also "astronomical art") is the term for a genre of modern artistic expression that strives to show the wonders of the Universe. Like other genres, space art has many facets and encompasses realism, impressionism, hardware art, scu ...

ist Jon Lomberg, and astronomers Woodruff Sullivan,

Steve Squyres Steven Weldon Squyres (born January 9, 1956) is an American geologist and planetary scientist. He was the James A. Weeks Professor of Physical Sciences at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. His research area is in planetary sciences, with a ...

, James Bell and Tyler Nordgren. CAD design and drawings were done by Jason Suchman. The MarsDial was intended to be part

science outreach Science outreach, also called Education and Public Outreach (EPO or E/PO) or simply public outreach, is an umbrella term for a variety of activities by research institutes, universities, and institutions such as science museums, aimed at promoting ...

, part calibration target. ''Curiosity'' (MSL), the rover which landed on Mars in August 2012, used a spare sundial remaining from the Mars Exploration Rovers.Rebecca Boyle (2012). “How A Sundial Lets Curiosity See Mars in Living Color”. ''Popular Science''
/ref> It has a new text that reads "Mars 2012" and "To Mars To Explore". The ball is the nodus, the post is the gnomon. The colors on the corners are for calibrating colors, and the inner circles are in greyscale. There is a mirrored section on the middle circle to reflect the sky. The sundials are also " message artifacts"something for future human explorers to find.''Hawaii Tribune Herald'' “Big Island artist’s art to land on Mars, again”
/ref>

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* MER-A ''Spirit'' * MER-B ''Opportunity'' * MSL ''Curiosity''

References

External links

''Curiosity''s Marsdial is on Mars
(The Planetary Society)
The Planetary Society's page covering the MarsDial

Make your own MarsDial!
als
Planetary.org instructions

MSL's sundial on Mars
{{Mars Mars Exploration Rover mission Mars Science Laboratory Mars 2020 Sundials Message artifacts

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See also

References

External links