White House tasks NASA with establishing unified time standard for moon and celestial bodies
The White House has tasked NASA with developing a unified time standard for the moon and other celestial bodies, aiming to establish international norms in space amid increasing competition in lunar exploration among nations and private companies.
According to a memo seen by Reuters, the head of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) instructed NASA to collaborate with other parts of the U.S. government to create a plan by the end of 2026 for implementing what is referred to as Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC).
LTC would serve as a timekeeping benchmark for lunar spacecraft and satellites, which require precise timing for their missions due to differences in gravitational forces and other factors affecting time perception on the moon compared to Earth.
Kevin Coggins, NASA's space communications and navigation chief, explained that clocks on Earth would run at a different rate on the moon, with an average daily loss of 58.7 microseconds. This underscores the need for a unified time standard to synchronize operations and communications between Earth, lunar satellites, bases, and astronauts.
Without a unified time standard, ensuring secure data transfers between spacecraft and synchronization of communications would be challenging. Discrepancies in time could also lead to errors in mapping and locating positions on or around the moon.
The memo highlights the importance of a unified standard for coordinating commercial activities and managing the logistics of lunar commerce as commercial activities expand to the moon.
Deployment of atomic clocks on the lunar surface may be necessary, and international agreements will be required to implement Coordinated Lunar Time through existing standards bodies and the Artemis Accords involving 36 nations.
U.S. leadership in defining a suitable standard for operating in the lunar environment will benefit all spacefaring nations. While the United States leads in lunar exploration, other countries like China, Japan, and India also have ambitious lunar programs, emphasizing the need for international cooperation in space exploration.
