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What time is it on the moon? Europa Searches for Lunar Time Zone
With more lunar missions on the horizon than ever, the European Space Agency wants to give the moon its own time zone. This week, the agency said space agencies around the world are considering the best way to measure...
Updated: 39 months ago2 min read
NASA had to grapple with the issue of time as it planned and built the International Space Station, which was fast approaching the 25th anniversary of the launch of its first piece.
With more lunar missions on the horizon than ever, the European Space Agency wants to give the moon its own time zone.
This week, the agency said space agencies around the world are considering the best way to measure time on the moon. The idea emerged during a meeting in the Netherlands late last year, where participants agreed on the urgent need to establish "a common lunar reference time," said Pietro Giordano, a navigation systems engineer at the space agency.
"A joint international effort to achieve this is now being launched," Giordano said in a statement.
For the time being, a lunar mission is underway at the time of the country operating the spacecraft. European space officials said an internationally recognized lunar time zone would make things easier for everyone, especially as more countries and even private companies target the moon and NASA prepares to send astronauts there.
NASA had to contend with the issue of timing in the planning and construction of the International Space Station and was fast approaching the 25th anniversary of the launch of its first part.
Although the space station does not have its own time zone, it runs on Coordinated Universal Time, or UTC, which is meticulously based on atomic clocks.This helps break down the time difference between NASA and the Canadian Space Agency and the other partner space programs in Russia, Japan and Europe.
The international team studying lunar time is debating whether a single organization should set and maintain the time on the moon, according to the European Space Agency.
There are also technical issues to consider. Clocks tick faster on the moon than on Earth, going forward by about 56 microseconds each day, the space agency said. To complicate matters further, ticking occurs differently on the lunar surface than in lunar orbit.
Perhaps most importantly, lunar time needs to be convenient for astronauts there, noted Bernhard Hufenbach of the space agency. NASA is preparing for its first flight to the moon with astronauts in more than half a century in 2024, with a moon landing as early as 2025 days, Hufenbach said in a statement. "But now that we have established a working time system for the moon, we can do the same for other planetary goals."
This week, the agency said space agencies around the world are considering the best way to measure time on the moon. The idea emerged during a meeting in the Netherlands late last year, where participants agreed on the urgent need to establish "a common lunar reference time," said Pietro Giordano, a navigation systems engineer at the space agency.
"A joint international effort to achieve this is now being launched," Giordano said in a statement.
For the time being, a lunar mission is underway at the time of the country operating the spacecraft. European space officials said an internationally recognized lunar time zone would make things easier for everyone, especially as more countries and even private companies target the moon and NASA prepares to send astronauts there.
NASA had to contend with the issue of timing in the planning and construction of the International Space Station and was fast approaching the 25th anniversary of the launch of its first part.
Although the space station does not have its own time zone, it runs on Coordinated Universal Time, or UTC, which is meticulously based on atomic clocks.This helps break down the time difference between NASA and the Canadian Space Agency and the other partner space programs in Russia, Japan and Europe.
The international team studying lunar time is debating whether a single organization should set and maintain the time on the moon, according to the European Space Agency.
There are also technical issues to consider. Clocks tick faster on the moon than on Earth, going forward by about 56 microseconds each day, the space agency said. To complicate matters further, ticking occurs differently on the lunar surface than in lunar orbit.
Perhaps most importantly, lunar time needs to be convenient for astronauts there, noted Bernhard Hufenbach of the space agency. NASA is preparing for its first flight to the moon with astronauts in more than half a century in 2024, with a moon landing as early as 2025 days, Hufenbach said in a statement. "But now that we have established a working time system for the moon, we can do the same for other planetary goals."
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