Why NASA is developing a time zone for Moon
What's the story
NASA is moving ahead with its plan to introduce a standard time zone on the Moon, called Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC). This is all about making it easier to schedule lunar missions and explorations, which could help in our future efforts to establish a permanent base up there. To make this happen, NASA is planning to team up with the US government, commercial companies, and international standards organizations.
Rationale
The need for time standardization in space
Ben Ashman, who's an aerospace engineer at NASA's Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) team, pointed out that as more countries and private companies join the Moon race, the need for time standardization is becoming crucial. "A shared definition of time is an important part of safe, resilient, and sustainable operations," Ashman said. To nail down lunar timekeeping, NASA researchers are looking at using atomic clocks, much like the ones we have on Earth.
Hurdles
Gravitational differences pose a challenge to lunar timekeeping
The gravitational differences between Earth and the Moon could make timekeeping a bit tricky. These differences cause each second to be slightly longer on the Moon than on Earth. Consequently, clocks on the Moon would gain about 56 microseconds per day compared to those on Earth. Cheryl Gramling, a senior navigation systems engineer at NASA, explained, "For something traveling at the speed of light, 56 microseconds is enough time to travel the distance of approximately 168 football fields."
Solutions
Scientists are working to solve this problem
Scientists are working on some slick mathematical models to solve this problem so that the watches of astronauts and ground control operators stay in sync. Once they tackle these hurdles, NASA scientists are confident that the system will be scalable enough for use across the whole Solar System, not just the Moon.