NASA confirmed on Friday that it’s developing a new lunar time system for the Moon. The White House published a policy memo in April, directing NASA to create the new standard by 2026. The space agency will work with U.S. government stakeholders, partners, and international standards organizations to establish a Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC).
Why the Moon Needs Its Own Time Zone
Einstein’s theories of relativity explain that time changes relative to speed and gravity. Time moves slightly faster on the Moon due to its weaker gravity. An Earth clock on the Moon would gain about 56 microseconds a day, impacting mission calculations requiring precision.
Cheryl Gramling, NASA timing and standards leader, noted, “For something traveling at the speed of light, 56 microseconds is enough time to travel the distance of approximately 168 football fields.” This discrepancy could affect the perceived location of orbiting astronauts.
Collaborative Efforts for LTC
The White House memo directed NASA to collaborate with various U.S. Departments and international stakeholders, including Artemis Accords signees. Established in 2020, these agreements are endorsed by 43 countries but notably exclude China and Russia.
NASA’s Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) program will lead the LTC initiative. One of LTC’s goals is to be scalable to other celestial bodies, such as Mars. The time standard will be determined by a weighted average of atomic clocks on the Moon, similar to Earth’s Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
Future Moon Missions
NASA plans to send crewed missions back to the Moon through its Artemis program. Artemis 2, scheduled for September 2025, plans to send four people on a pass around the Moon. Artemis 3 aims to land astronauts near the Moon’s South Pole a year later.
