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The Institute for Advanced Physics is pleased to present a calendar designed for use on the planet Mars!

With two rovers currently on Mars (putting those who work with them virtually on Mars) and President George W. Bush having set the goal for the U.S. to land a manned mission on Mars (archive) by 2030, such a calendar is needed as human history extends beyond the planet Earth.

The Mars calendar aligns by setting Januaria 1 BCM as the winter solstace on Mars, thus putting the start of Martian reckoning of the year 1 ADM into alignment with January 1, 1 AD of the Earth-based Gregorian Calendar (*). This means March (Mars in Latin) is the beginning of the year as it was in Roman times and September, October, November, December become the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th months of the year as their names imply. For more information about the Mars Calendar see the Physics for Realists textbook from which it derives as part of the manned mission to Mars theme of the book. Sign up for more information on Physics for Realists!

Mars image courtesy Space Telescope Science Institute (www.stsci.edu)

With the Mars Calendar you can:

  • Find the Martian date for any historical Earth date
  • Find the historical Earth date for any Martian date
  • Navigate forward or backward by year, month, day, etc. based on the Earth calendar
  • Navigate forward or backward by year, month, sol, etc. based on the Martian Calendar
  • Find out about Erday

Download
     Download and Install

Problem? Follow these instructions (to add iapweb.org to the Java Exception Site List)

Still having trouble?

If you do not have Java installed, install it by clicking here:
GetJava Download Button

Or Download the ZIP file
     Download .zip file
Instructions

1. After downloading, right click on the file and press "Extract All" to unzip it. (Alternatively, you can use your own unzipping program if you have one.)

2. Follow the on screen directions to extract the zip file to a new folder.

3. Open the folder you just created and double click MarsCalendar.jar to run the software.

4. You can create a shortcut to the software on your desktop by dragging and dropping, with the right mouse button, MarsCalendar.jar to your desktop and selecting "Create Shortcut Here."


* ADM: Anno Domini secundum temporem Martianum
BCM: Before Christ according to time on Mars
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