Nasa to create ‘Moon Standard Time’ for lunar visitors – and there’s a strange difference in seconds

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THE Moon is to receive its own time zone as plans to develop permanent living bases on the lunar surface quickly progress.

The White House has reportedly directed Nasa to create a standard Moon time for all nations, following a similar proposal by the European Space Agency (ESA) last year.

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As things stand today, China is aiming to establish its Disneyland-sized International Lunar Research Base (ILRS) no earlier than 2028[/caption]

Space-faring nations currently use their own time zones when performing lunar missions.

But scientists have warned that this won’t be sustainable in a future where humans are establishing permanent living quarters – let alone when grand plans for a lunar railway network unfold.

Imagine if the world wasn’t syncing their clocks to the same time – how disruptive that might be and how challenging everyday things become.

Arati Prabhakar, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy

An internal memo, reported by Reuters, has revealed plans for a Nasa-led Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC) to be in place by the end of 2026.

Without a universal lunar time zone, it will be all the more challenging to ensure data transfers between spacecraft, or Earth and the Moon, are accurate, the memo states.

It’s important that all communications between Earth, lunar satellites, bases and astronauts are synchronised, especially where commercial activities are involved.

Clocks run faster on the Moon than they do on Earth.

Lunar visitors gain about 56 microseconds each day – and ticking occurs differently on the lunar surface in comparison to in lunar orbit.

“Imagine if the world wasn’t syncing their clocks to the same time – how disruptive that might be and how challenging everyday things become,” Arati Prabhakar, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, wrote in the memo.

While different countries have their own time zones – and often more than one depending on the time of year – most are based on Coordinated Universal Time or UCT.

This relies on a global network of atomic clocks that measure changes in the state of atoms to come to a precise time.

The memo also suggests deploying atomic clocks at different locations around the Moon to build a precise lunar time zone.

“The same clock that we have on Earth would move at a different rate on the moon,” Kevin Coggins, Nasa’s space communications and navigation chief, told Reuters.

“Think of the atomic clocks at the US Naval Observatory (in Washington). They’re the heartbeat of the nation, synchronising everything.

“You’re going to want a heartbeat on the Moon.”

Boots on the Moon

Nasa is currently targeting September 2026 for its Artemis III mission, the first human assignment on the Moon since Apollo 17.

While Nasa’s Artemis programme brings the White House several steps closer to securing a permanent base on the Moon, it may not be alone on the lunar surface.

Like the US, China has its own plans for a lunar research facility, which it has already agreed to share with Egypt, Venezuela, South Africa, Pakistan and Azerbaijan.

While Nasa boss Bill Nelson once considered China its most capable opponent in getting boots on the Moon by the end of the decade – he has since changed his outlook.

As things stand today, China is aiming to establish its Disneyland-sized International Lunar Research Base (ILRS) no earlier than 2028.

China is adamant that its intentions for ILRS are to collect samples and carry out “scientific exploration”.

Although Nelson says China’s military presence in the South China Sea signals how the country might behave on the lunar surface, which would breach the 1967 Outer Space Treaty.

Once plans to colonise Mars merge into the forefront in the 2030s, the Red Planet may too be given its own time zone.

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