'Coordinated Lunar Time': NASA asked to give the moon its own time zone

The White House wants the moon to have its own time zone.

On Tuesday, Arati Prabhakar, the head of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), asked NASA to establish a unified standard time for the moon and other celestial bodies.

Prabhakar asked the space agency to coordinate with other government agencies to come up with a plan to create a Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC) by the end of 2026.

Time moves quicker on the moon

Time moves quicker (by 58.7 microseconds) every day on the moon relative to Earth because of the different gravitational field strength on the moon, the memo said.

"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, said in an interview with Reuters.

The LTC would provide a time-keeping benchmark for lunar spacecraft and satellites that require extreme precision for their missions.

"Think of the atomic clocks at the U.S. Naval Observatory (in Washington). They're the heartbeat of the nation, synchronizing everything. You're going to want a heartbeat on the moon," Coggins said.

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Synchronized time and lunar missions

In 2017, NASA formed the Artemis program, to re-establish crewed lunar missions. The space agency aims to establish a scientific lunar base that could help set the stage for future missions to Mars. Dozens of companies, spacecraft and countries are involved in the effort.

An OSTP official told Reuters that without a unified lunar time standard it would be challenging to ensure that data transfers between spacecraft are secure and that communications between Earth, lunar satellites, bases and astronauts are synchronized.

Discrepancies in time also could lead to errors in mapping and locating positions on or orbiting the moon, the official said.

"Imagine if the world wasn't syncing their clocks to the same time - how disruptive that might be and how challenging everyday things become," the official said.

Contributing: Reuters