The moon is getting its own time zone, White House memo to NASA reveals

News
By Ben Turner
published

The moon's lower gravity means that time runs slower on its surface. With more moon missions planned, NASA has now been tasked by the White House to create a lunar time zone by 2026.

An image of half of the moon.
An image of half of the moon. (Image credit: Getty Images)

The U.S. government has directed NASA to give the moon its own time zone.

The space agency has until the end of 2026 to establish "Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC),"according to a memo sent to NASA by the U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).

Lunar time will run differently from time zones on Earth. Because there's less gravity on the moon, time there moves faster than on our planet — running ahead by 58.7 microseconds every day. This seemingly small difference is enough to throw off the precise maneuvers of lunar spacecraft and satellites. 

Related: NASA's Voyager 1 sends readable message to Earth after 4 nail-biting months of gibberish

"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 program manager, told Reuters. 

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LTC is being set up in anticipation of NASA's return to the moon. Following the Artemis 1 test flight, which sent NASA's uncrewed Orion capsule on a round trip to the moon in November 2022, the space agency plans to send humans into orbit around the moon in 2025 and onto its surface in 2026.

These missions will be vital steps towards NASA's greatest ambition for the Artemis program: taking humans to Mars.

With dozens of countries and companies involved in new missions to the moon, a standardized way of synchronizing clocks is vital.

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

Ben Turner
Ben Turner
Staff Writer

Ben Turner is a U.K. based staff writer at Live Science. He covers physics and astronomy, among other topics like tech and climate change. He graduated from University College London with a degree in particle physics before training as a journalist. When he's not writing, Ben enjoys reading literature, playing the guitar and embarrassing himself with chess.

3 Comments Comment from the forums
  • cecilia fx
    That's interesting.

    also, we really should stop this twice a year changing the time here on earth. it's annoying
    Reply
  • mover0
    IIRC, all things being equal, lower gravity would mean less time-dilation, not more. Thus,
    if clocks on the moon run slower it must be due to higher orbital velocity, not a
    difference in gravity.
    Reply
  • Diverious
    Okay, let's take a stab at designing a lunar time zone system that accounts for the time dilation effects on the moon:

    Reference Time:

    We'll use Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) as the reference time standard, aligning the lunar time zones with the primary timekeeping system used on Earth.

    Time Dilation Factor:

    Based on the known time dilation effects, 1 second on the lunar surface is equivalent to approximately 1.0000000003 seconds on Earth.
    We'll incorporate this factor into the lunar time system to ensure synchronization with UTC.

    Lunar Time Zones:

    Rather than using the same 24-hour time zones as Earth, we'll define 16 one-hour lunar time zones on the moon.
    These will be labeled LTZ-1 through LTZ-16, with LTZ-1 being the westernmost time zone and LTZ-16 being the easternmost.

    Time Zone Boundaries:

    The lunar time zone boundaries will be defined by longitude, with each zone spanning 22.5 degrees of longitude (360 degrees / 16 zones).
    This aligns the zones with the cardinal directions and major lunar features/settlements.

    Lunar Calendar:

    In addition to the lunar time zones, we'll also use a lunar calendar system.
    This will be based on the moon's sidereal period of approximately 27.32 days.
    Each lunar month will have 27 days, with an extra "leap day" added periodically to keep the calendar aligned with the lunar cycle.

    So in summary, the key elements of the lunar time system would be:

    Reference Time: UTC
    Time Dilation Factor: 1 LT second = 1.0000000003 UT seconds
    Time Zones: 16 one-hour zones (LTZ-1 to LTZ-16)
    Time Zone Boundaries: 22.5 degrees longitude each
    Lunar Calendar: 27-day months, with periodic leap days

    This provides a framework for a lunar timekeeping system that accounts for the unique conditions on the moon, while still maintaining alignment with Earth's primary time standard.
    Reply