NASA is directed by the White House to establish a Lunar Time Standard.

   

 WASHINGTON: Amid a rising lunar race among countries and commercial firms, the White House on Tuesday ordered NASA to create a single standard of time for the moon and other celestial bodies. The goal is for the US to define universal standards in space.

 

    According to a memo obtained by Reuters, the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) gave the space agency instructions to collaborate with other branches of the federal government to develop a strategy by the end of 2026 for implementing a Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC), as described by the agency. Due to variations in the pull of gravity as well as possibly other factors, time travels differently on the moon and other celestial bodies than it does on Earth. The LTC would, among other things, offer a timekeeping standard for satellites and lunar probes whose missions demand extremely precise timing.

 

    In an interview, NASA's chief of space communications and navigation Kevin Coggins stated, "The same clock that we have on Earth would move at a different rate on the moon."

    According to OSTP chairman Arati Prabhakar's memo, an Earth-based clock would appear to lose 58.7 microseconds on average every Earth day to a person on the moon, along with other periodic fluctuations that would cause moon time to further deviate from Earth time.

    Think about the atomic clocks at the US Naval Observatory (in Washington). They maintain unity throughout the nation by acting as its heart. "You're going to want a heartbeat on the moon," Coggins said.

 

    NASA plans to send astronauts to the moon as part of the Artemis program in the near future, with the goal of establishing a research lunar facility that might serve as a springboard for future Mars missions. Numerous businesses, spacecraft, and nations are participating in the endeavor.

    An OSTP official stated that without a single lunar time standard, it would be challenging to provide safe data transfers between spacecraft and coordinated communications between Earth, lunar satellites, bases, and humans. According to the official, differences in time may also cause mistakes when mapping and finding locations on or around the moon.

 

"How distressing"

    The official went on, "Imagine if everyone in the world didn't sync their clocks to the same time - how disruptive that might be and how challenging everyday things become." Coordinated Universal Time, or UTC, is the basis for the majority of clocks and time zones on Earth. This widely used standard is reliant on a massive global network of atomic clocks that are spaced all over the planet. They track atomic state changes and produce an average that adds up to a precise time.

    According to the OSTP official, atomic clocks could need to be installed on the lunar surface. The official added that handling the logistics of lunar business, guaranteeing transaction dependability, and coordinating operations would all depend on a single time standard as commercial activity spreads to the moon.

    NASA said in January that it had planned the first astronaut lunar landing since the Apollo program's termination in the 1970s for September 2026. The mission, which would include four men traveling around the moon and returning, will take place in September 2025.

    Although the US is the only nation to have sent humans to the moon, other nations have aspirations to go there as well. Potential mineral riches on the moon have drawn the attention of several nations, and lunar colonies may be necessary to support crewed trips to Mars and other planets in the future.

 

    China declared last year that by 2030, it wanted to send its first astronauts to the moon. Japan became the sixth nation to land a spacecraft on the moon in January. When India became the first country to land a spacecraft near the moon's unexplored south pole last year, history was made. It aims to land an astronaut on the moon by 2040. The US taking the lead in creating a standard that meets the requirements for accuracy and resilience needed to operate in the harsh lunar environment will benefit all spacefaring nations.

The OSTP memo stated.

    The email stated that international agreements through "existing standards bodies" and among the 36 countries that have signed the Artemis Accords, which govern how governments engage in space and on the moon, will be necessary to define how to adopt Coordinated Lunar Time. The two principal adversaries of the US in space, China and Russia, have not ratified the Artemis Accords.

    According to the OSTP official, The application of Coordinated Lunar Time may be influenced by Coordinated Universal Time. Coordinated Universal Time is an international standard according to the International Telecommunication Union of the United Nations.

 

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