A Martian sol is 39 minutes 35 seconds longer than Earth's day, forcing rover teams to shift their entire schedule later each day to align with the spacecraft's local operations. Phoenix lander study found 87% of monitored personnel synchronized to Mars time with controlled lighting, though sleep averaged only 6 hours and misalignment caused rapid fatigue.
Living on Mars Time: How JPL Rover Teams Sync With a Longer Day
Personnel experienced fatigue, sleep deprivation, and social dislocation from families; early missions reported workers falling asleep near freeways and walking into walls due to circadian disruption.