Coordinated Lunar Time: Why is the Moon getting its own time zone?
With visitors to the Moon expected to increase in the next few years, the White House has insisted NASA give them a helping hand.
Travellers to the Moon have been relatively few and far between since Neil Armstrong first set foot on it back in 1969. Lunar traffic, however, is expected to crank up in the near future, which will see the Earth’s only natural satellite get its own time zone.
White House tasks NASA with implementing Moon time system
Around a year after the European Space Agency first suggested the establishment of a time system for the Moon, NASA were this week tasked with doing just that by the White House. In the same way as we have Eastern Time (ET), Pacific Time (PT), and Central Time (CT) etc., Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC) is coming, and there’s a logical reason for it.
Dozens of lunar missions from both national agencies and private companies have been scheduled for the next few years, with plenty more predicted to follow. With lunar activity set to increase, it has been decided a standard time measurement would make life much easier for everyone involved, in particular when it comes to navigation accuracy, docking and landing.
The Biden administration has given NASA until 2026 to implement the Moon’s very own time-keeping system, which a memo released by the White House insists must have the following four qualities: “traceability to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC); accuracy sufficient to support precision navigation and science; resilience to loss of contact with Earth; and scalability to space environments beyond the Earth-Moon system.”
What is the difference between Earth Time (UTC) and Moon Time (LTC)?
Time on the Moon, in fact, isn’t quite the same as time on Earth due to relativity, which means using UTC time up there wouldn’t work. Although it almost would... According to the memo, an Earth-based clock would lose 58.7 mircoseconds on the Moon, which seemingly isn’t accurate enough to ensure things run smoothly.
The discrepancy would hold “important implications for developing standards and capabilities for operating on or around the Moon,” say the White House.
“Knowledge of time in distant operating regimes is fundamental to the scientific discovery, economic development, and international collaboration that form the basis of U.S. leadership in space”.
Complete your personal details to comment
Your opinion will be published with first and last names