Shabbat (and other times) on Mars

[cellio]

I was recently asked about this, and I don't know what the current thinking is.

The question of when an astronaut observes Shabbat (while in space) is well-understood. [1] But what happens when we colonize other planets and your hometown is on Mars? Do you count six Mars-days and observe the seventh as Shabbat? How long is a month (and how do you decide which moon)? Is it still desirable to stay in sync with Earthly seasons, or will that go out the window? If you follow the sun as locally experienced, what happens when that causes hardship? (Does the lunar colony observe one ~29-day Shabbat every seven months?) There must be commentary on this by now from sources other than Wandering Stars, but I don't know what the popular opinion is.

[1] I know of three opinions for the astronaut in space: follow your hometown, follow the city from which you launched (your port of departure, like for ships), or follow Jerusalem. All of these involve a ~25-hour Shabbat every seven days, like on Earth, even though your orbit might cause you to see a 90-minute day. But the astronaut is, by definition, just visiting.

Comments

[geekosaur]

My first impulse is to wonder if it's legitimate to consider that from a Biblical point of view, so to speak, if you're on Mars, you're in Heaven.

Actually, no; the planets, stars, etc. are part of raqi`a, not shamayim. At least according to the Sages, who reasoned that since the "heavenly bodies" are false idols/not "gods", they cannot possibly be in "the heavens", so must be in "the sky".

This is reflected in the ma`ariv prayer:

...u-m'sader et ha-kochavim b'mishm'roteihem ba-raqi`a ki-r'tzono...

...and Who orders the stars in their courses in the sky according to His will.