On May 1, 2014, at 3:51 PM, Freelance Traveller <editor@freelancetraveller.com> wrote:

> For communication with Earth, I'd have access to clocks and calendars
> that keep Earth time, but it doesn't otherwise make sense for Mars to
> conform to an Earth clock or Earth calendar - it simply doesn't fit the
> astronomical facts of Mars.

Which is why the Mars rover teams work in terms of ‘Sols’, ie one Martian day.

<http://www.space.com/16975-curiosity-mars-rover-mission-control.html>

"For the first 90 Mars days, or Sols, the teams in charge of each of Curiosity's 10 science instruments will put the rover through its paces to check them out. These teams will live vicariously through Curiosity, seeing what it sees on large television screens and even operating on Mars time, where the day lasts 24 hours and 39 minutes.

"The shifts are based on Mars time," said Chuck Baker, mission planner for the cruise portion of Curiosity's trip from Earth to Mars. "You see a lot of people who wind up working weird hours. A lot of people have cots in their offices because getting sleep can get a little hairy.”

--
Bruce Johnson
University of Arizona
College of Pharmacy
Information Technology Group

Institutions do not have opinions, merely customs