On Tuesday, the Biden White House ordered NASA to establish a standard time zone on the Moon.
In a memo obtained by Reuters, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) directed NASA to establish a time standard for the Moon and other planets.
The note states that the US government plans to establish Coordinated Lunar Timing (LTC) by the end of 2026.
NASA’s head of space communications and navigation, Kevin Coggins, shared that coordinated lunar time is needed because “The same clock we have on Earth would move at a different speed on the Moon.”
Exclusive: The White House has ordered NASA to establish a unified time standard for the moon and other celestial bodies, as the US aims to establish international norms in space amid a growing lunar race among nations and private companies https:/ /t.co /HJYCCBDRjh
— Reuters (@Reuters) April 2, 2024
According to Reuters:
The White House on Tuesday ordered NASA to establish a unified standard for the time of the Moon and other celestial bodies, as the United States aims to establish 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, directed the space agency to work with other parts of the US government to come up with a plan by the end of 2026 to establish what will be called Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC).
The different gravitational pull, and potentially other factors, on the Moon and other celestial bodies change how time unfolds compared to how it is perceived on Earth. Among other things, the LTC would provide a benchmark for timing spacecraft and lunar satellites that require extreme precision for their missions.
“The same clock we have on Earth would move at a different speed on the Moon,” Kevin Coggins, NASA’s chief of space communications and navigation, said in an interview.
The memo also shared that time moves faster on the Moon than on Earth due to the strength of the Moon’s gravitational field.
NASA has been busy the last few months.
As Gateway Pundit previously reported, the space agency plans to launch three sounding rockets during the April 8 solar eclipse.
LIGHT:
NASA to launch three ‘sounding rockets’ during total solar eclipse – project named after Egyptian god of darkness and chaos