How long does it take Mars to rotate on its axis?

Mars takes about 24 hours and 37 minutes to rotate once on its axis.

That figure describes Mars’s sidereal rotation period: 24 hours, 37 minutes, and about 23 seconds when measured against distant stars. It is slightly shorter than the length of a Martian solar day, called a sol, because Mars is also moving along its orbit around the Sun.

A sol lasts about 24 hours, 39 minutes, and 35 seconds. Space missions use sols for schedules and surface operations, so the two-minute difference often causes confusion. NASA’s rovers and landers label their working days with sol numbers rather than ordinary Earth dates.

Mars’s rotation is unusually Earth-like compared with many planets, which helps make its day-night cycle familiar. Its axial tilt is also similar to Earth’s, producing seasons, although Martian seasons last longer because Mars takes about 687 Earth days to orbit the Sun. The planet’s day length is therefore commonly rounded to 24 hours and 37 minutes in trivia references.