The White House wants to know what time it is on the moon so has asked NASA to create a lunar clock.
The US government wants the space agency to create a unified standard of time for the moon as the Oval Office wants to set an international standard as the lunar race is back on.
Interests on the surface of the moon has escalated as NSA and private companies work on getting boots on the white rock to establish a base outside of Earth.
NASA was tasked, alongside other parts of the government, to establish a plan for setting Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC) by the end of 2026, according to a memo by the head of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).
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Time moves different to Earth, because of differences in gravitational force and other factors. The LTC would become a standard for spacecraft and satellites for missions.
“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 chief, said, reports Reuters.
On average, an Earth-based clock would lose 58.7 microseconds each day on our planet, and over time, would drift to be vastly different to times on the globe.
“Think of the atomic clocks at the U.S. Naval Observatory (in Washington),” Coggins said. “They’re the heartbeat of the nation, synchronizing everything. You’re going to want a heartbeat on the moon”.
“Imagine if the world wasn’t syncing their clocks to the same time – how disruptive that might be and how challenging everyday things become,” an OTSP official said.
NASA is planning to send astronauts back to the lunar rock in he future, scheduled for the first landing to be in September 2026, the first in more than 50s after the end of the Apollo program in the 1970s. In September next year, they plan to send four astronauts to circle the moon and to return.
The agency also wants to establish a lunar base for future missions to Mars, with private companies and countries also involved. Elon Musk’s SpaceX have sent a payload to the rock this year as well.
Japan is joining the space race once again, aiming to get boots on the surface by 2030, with Indian planning to do the same by 2040.
But to create a lunar clock, the US and NASA will need to seek agreement from countries around the globe, including those signed up to the Artemis Accords pact. This governs how countries act in space and on the moon. China and Russia haven’t signed this Accords.
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