American space agency NASA is working towards establishing a moon-centric time reference system for astronauts to tell time on the Moon. The initiative has been started after the White House sent a memo asking NASA to work with other US agencies to establish a time zone on Earth's satellite, according to a report in The Guardian. The space agency has been given time till 2026 to set up what is being called Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC), the outlet further said.
Does time move faster on Moon?
Since there is less gravity on the Moon, time there moves a tad more quickly - 58.7 microseconds every day - compared to Earth.
LTC will be used as 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," Kevin Coggins, NASA's top communications and navigation official, told New York Post while talking about the project.
"It makes sense that when you go to another body, like the Moon or Mars that each one gets its own heartbeat," he added.
The expert said everything on the Moon will operate on the speeded-up time.
People may think it's not a big deal if time moves a few hours slower or faster, but microseconds matter when high-tech systems interact.
How will LTC help astronauts and space missions?
An official from the US Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) told news agency Reuters that without LST, it would be challenging to ensure that data transfers between spacecraft are secure and that communications among Earth, lunar satellites, bases and astronauts are synchronised.
The new time system will end discrepancies in time, which could lead to errors in mapping and locating positions on or orbiting the moon, according to The Guardian report.
What are the challenges?
Developing LTC may require atomic clocks to be placed on the Moon. These clocks are used to measure time and time zones on Earth and are placed in different locations around the world.
Last year, the European Space Agency (ESA) had said that Earth needs to come up with a unified time for the Moon, where a day lasts 29.5 Earth days.
