Moon Standard Time? Nasa to create lunar-centric time reference system

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/apr/02/moon-nasa-coordinated-lunar-time

Moon Standard Time? Nasa to create lunar-centric time reference system

Space agency tasked with establishing Coordinated Lunar Time, partly to aid missions requiring extreme precision

Diana Ramirez-Simon and agencies
Tue 2 Apr 2024 20.57 EDT

The White House wants Nasa to figure out how to tell time on the moon.

A memo sent on Tuesday from the head of the US Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) has asked the space agency to work with other US agencies and international agencies to establish a moon-centric time reference system. Nasa has until the end of 2026 to set up what is being called Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC).

It’s not quite a time zone like those on Earth, but an entire frame of time reference for the moon. Because there’s less gravity on the moon, time there moves a tad more quickly – 58.7 microseconds every day – compared with on Earth. Among other things, LTC would provide a time-keeping benchmark for lunar spacecraft and satellites that require extreme precision for their missions.

“An atomic clock on the moon will tick at a different rate than a clock on Earth,” said Kevin Coggins, Nasa’s top communications and navigation official. “It makes sense that when you go to another body, like the moon or Mars, that each one gets its own heartbeat.”

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