A rare active volcano on Mars may be causing the whole planet to spin faster

A rare active volcano on Mars may be causing the whole planet to spin faster

Data from NASA's InSight mission suggests the Red Planet's Tharsis region is more active than previously thought and may be why Mars is spinning more quickly over time.

Volcanoes On Mars May Not Be Dead And Are Making The Red Planet Do Some Unusual Things

Volcanoes on Mars may be more active than previously believed, according to data from NASA’s InSight mission. They also may be the reason why the Red Planet spins a little faster each year. Back in 2023, data from NASA’s InSight mission revealed that Mars was spinning at an accelerating rate and that its days were getting minutely shorter. Why this was happening was a bit of a mystery to scientists. At the time, according to Live Science, resear…

Mars’ Rotation Is Speeding Up at an Unprecedented Rate, and Scientists Finally Know Why

Mars’ rotation is speeding up slightly, but enough for scientists to notice. A new study suggests the cause could be a massive plume deep underground, quietly affecting how the planet rotates. The idea comes from research published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, using data from NASA’s InSight lander. By comparing it with older observations from the Viking missions, scientists found that the length of a Martian day is slowly shr…