 "Will we get a new Moon Standard Time? NASA's big plan, explained")
Will we get a new Moon Standard Time? NASA's big plan, explained
The White House has asked NASA to establish a unified standard of time for the Moon, calling it a coordinated lunar time (LTC). This would provide a time-keeping benchmark for lunar spacecraft and satellites that require extreme precision for their missions
The White House sent a memo to NASA on Tuesday asking the space agency to establish a unified standard of time for the Moon and other celestial bodies.
The development comes as the United States aims to set international norms in space amid a growing lunar race among nations and private companies.
The head of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), according to a memo seen by Reuters, instructed the space agency to work with other parts of the US government to devise a plan by the end of 2026 for setting what it called a Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC).
Time on the Moon is slightly faster than on Earth, averaging 58.7 microseconds each day, due to the absence of gravity, according to OSTP chief Arati Prabhakar’s memo cited by Reuters.
