An internal US government document shows that it has instructed NASA to establish a uniform time standard for the moon and other celestial bodies. However, implementing this plan may prove difficult.
The space agency NASA is expected to develop a plan to implement Coordinated Moon Time (LTC) by the end of 2026, according to a memo from the Presidential Office’s Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) seen by Reuters.
This time measurement is mainly required by spaceships and lunar satellites to provide accurate time information.
On the moon, time passes 58.7 microseconds slower
OSTP head Arati Prabhakar emphasizes in her letter that a clock on Earth runs an average of 58.7 microseconds slower per Earth day compared to a clock on the moon. In addition, there are other fluctuations that cause the moon time to differ from the time on Earth. This could lead to problems with data transmission between Earth and satellites, space bases and astronauts if consistent lunar time is not used.
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) serves as a reference for calculating local times on Earth. Austria uses Central European Time (CET) with UTC+1, during summer time CEST with UTC+2. The standard is based on a global network of atomic clocks.
Another trip to the moon is planned
The US hopes that leadership in setting this standard will “benefit all spacefaring nations.” NASA plans the first astronaut moon landing since the end of the Apollo program for September 2026.
Source: Krone
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