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The US government instructed NASA to give the moon its own time zone.
The space agency will need to establish a “Linear Time Convention” (LTC) by the end of 2026. Memo sent to NASA By the U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).
Moon time is different from Earth’s time zone. Due to the Moon’s lower gravity, time moves more slowly on the Moon than on Earth, with a delay of 58.7 microseconds each day. This seemingly small difference is enough to disrupt the precise maneuvering of lunar probes and satellites.
Related: NASA’s Voyager 1 sends readable message to Earth after 4 months of gibberish
“The same clock we have on Earth will run at a different speed on the moon.” Kevin CogginsNASA Space Communications and Navigation Program Manager; told Reuters.
LTC is being established in anticipation of NASA’s return to the Moon. Following the Artemis 1 test flight that took NASA’s unmanned Orion capsule to and from the moon in November 2022, the space agency plans to send humans into lunar orbit in 2025 and land on the moon’s surface in 2026. I’m making plans.
These missions are important steps toward NASA’s Artemis program’s biggest ambition: to take humans to Mars.
With dozens of countries and companies involved in new missions to the moon, a standardized way to synchronize clocks is essential.
“Think of the atomic clock at the U.S. Naval Observatory[in Washington]. The atomic clock is the heartbeat of the nation, keeping everything in sync,” Coggins told Reuters. “You’d want to see a heartbeat on the moon.”
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