Coordinated Lunar Time
Coordinated Lunar Time or LTC is a proposed primary lunar time standard for the Moon.[1] In early April 2024, NASA was asked by the White House to work alongside domestic and international agencies for the purpose of establishing a unified standard time for the Moon and other celestial bodies by 2026.[2] The White House's request called for a "Coordinated Lunar Time", which was first proposed by the European Space Agency in early 2023.[1][3]
Currently, the time on the moon is different for each country involved. As a result, activities on the Moon are coordinated using the time zone of where a mission's headquarters is based.[4] For example, the Apollo missions utilized the Central Time Zone (CDT) as the missions were launched in Houston, Texas.[5]
History
As part of a ongoing global Space Race[6], a need exists for a universal time-keeping benchmark for lunar spacecraft and satellites that require precision for their upcoming missions. Due to differences in gravitational force and other factors, how time unfolds on the Moon relative to how it is perceived on Earth differs.[7]
Under the Artemis program, and supported by the Commercial Lunar Payload Services missions, astronauts and a proposed scientific Moonbase are envisioned to take place on and around the lunar surface in the 2020s and onwards.[8]The proposed standard would solve a current timekeeping issue. According to OSTP Chief Arati Prabhakar, currently, time would "appear to lose on average 58.7 microseconds per Earth-day and come with other periodic variations that would further drift moon time from Earth time"., April 2024 {{citation}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
The development of the standard will be a collaborative effort, initially by members of the Artemis Accords, but will be meant to apply globally. The initial proposal of the standard calls for four key features: traceability back to Coordinated Universal Time, accuracy sufficient for navigation and science, resilience to disruptions, and scalability to potential environments beyond cislunar space. LunaNet, an upcoming lunar communications and navigation service under development with the European Space Agency, calls for a Lunar Time System Standard which the LTC is meant to address.[9]
See also
References
- ^ a b "Telling time on the Moon". European Space Agency. February 27, 2023. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
- ^ Roulette, Joey; Dunham, Will (2024-04-03). "Exclusive: White House directs NASA to create time standard for the moon". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2024-04-02. Retrieved 2024-04-03.
- ^ "Should the Moon Have a Time Zone? Europe Pushes for 'Lunar Reference Time'". NBC Philadelphia. March 1, 2023. Archived from the original on March 1, 2023.
- ^ Rao, Joe (May 9, 2023). "What time is it on the moon? How a lunar clock debate led to an out-of-this-world timepiece". Space.com. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
- ^ Gibney, Elizabeth (2023). "What time is it on the Moon?". Nature. 614 (7946): 13–14. Bibcode:2023Natur.614...13G. doi:10.1038/d41586-023-00185-z. PMID 36693973. S2CID 256230630.
- ^ "White House directs Nasa to create time standard for the moon". South China Morning Post. 2024-04-03. Retrieved 2024-04-03.
- ^ Ramirez-Simon, Diana (2024-04-03). "Moon Standard Time? Nasa to create lunar-centric time reference system". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-04-03.
- ^ "Telling time on the Moon". www.esa.int. Retrieved 2024-04-03.
- ^ Foust, Jeff (2024-04-03). "White House directs NASA to develop lunar time standard". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2024-04-03.
External Links
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