NASA
The White House has tasked NASA to develop the Lunar Time Standard, to support the Artemis program while maintaining America’s leadership in space exploration.
According to Reuters, NASA aims to create Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC) by 2026, necessitating precise synchronization of Earth and lunar clocks.
While aligning Earth’s time systems is straightforward, lunar time synchronization poses unique challenges due to relativity.
LTC is crucial for seamless operations on the Moon and its vicinity. Using multiple time standards could lead to communication issues between lunar bases and Earth, complicating spacecraft coordination and causing confusion for space inhabitants.
An OSTP official warned that desynchronization could result in mapping errors and disorientation on the lunar surface.
Similar to the establishment of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) on Earth, international cooperation is essential for LTC adoption.
Diplomatic efforts among spacefaring nations could pave the way for LTC implementation.
source Reuters
