The White House wants to give the moon its own time zone

US News

by Andrew Wolfick, Fox Weather

The White House has directed NASA to lead efforts to help develop a time record for the Moon and other planets in our solar system as more companies and countries enter the space race.

According to a recent memoThe new time zone could be called Lunar Coordinated Time (LTC) and will be ready by the end of 2026.

A standard lunar day is equivalent to 29.53 Earth days.

Due to the Moon's lower gravity, the clock gains about 56 microseconds compared to 24 hours on Earth.

The idea of ​​space explorers using agreed-upon time has been floated for years, with the European Space Agency recently exploring a new potential time zone for the celestial body.

It is unclear whether the United States will adopt any proposal from ESA, as the agency has not publicly announced a timeline for its release.

“With a shared vision and unity of purpose across departments and agencies, the United States will lead the responsible, peaceful, and sustainable exploration of cislunar space and application of discoveries in this field,” the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy memorandum said. . “OSTP will lead and support the implementation of this policy and guidance.”

If the memo's timeline is adhered to, this means the Moon will be in an official time zone before humans return to the lunar body.

The Artemis program aims to send men and women to the surface of the moon for the first time since 1972.

NASA intends to land astronauts near the moon's south pole during the Artemis III mission scheduled for 2026 to search for ice deposits and other vital support elements.

The space agency also plans to install a communications network on the moon, much like the navigation systems used on Earth.

In addition to the increased surface activity on the lunar body, NASA is also in the final design stages of its Lunar Gateway, a space station expected to orbit near the Moon.

The future space station is expected to be operational by 2028, and its modules could be launched into orbit as early as 2025.

Similar to the International Space Station, the mission will be a joint effort between the United States, Europe, Japan, Canada and the United Arab Emirates.