Time-Zone Problems
Anytime we plan to call someone in another country, whether for work or for personal reasons, we have to check what time is it out there . Call center operators work night shifts for the same reason. But at least the time difference between two places remains the same, except for the Day Light Saving adjustments made by some countries. Imagine how much tougher it would be if the time difference between two places changed on a daily basis ! That’s exactly the scenario that NASA engineers working with the Red Rover module on Mars have to face. Why? Because, as Nagin Cox, said in her TED talk : “Our day is 24 hours. It takes Mars 24 hours and approximately 40 minutes to rotate once. So that means that the Martian day is 40 minutes longer than the Earth day.” But why should that matter? Aha, because the plans/instructions for the next Mars day have to be relayed at (Mars) night, while the Rover “sleeps”, i.e., takes a break from her operations on Mars to recharge her bat...