The moon could get its own time zone. Here's why.

NASA to decide the moon's time zone

The moon could soon get its own time zone. 

The White House is directing NASA to work with other government agencies to develop a lunar-based time system called Coordinated Lunar Time, abbreviated as LTC. The Biden administration has given the space agency until the end of 2026 to hammer out the new system.

According to a Tuesday memo from the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy, the goal is to create a standard time measurement that will help coordinate efforts as humanity returns to the moon for exploration and economic development. The reality of such developments is not far off, with Intuitive Machines' Odysseus lander touching down on the moon earlier this year and NASA planning a manned landing in 2026. 

"Over the next decade, the United States will work with allies and partners to return humans to the Moon and develop capabilities to enable an enduring presence," the White House memo said. 

It added, "Knowledge of time in distant operating regimes is fundamental to the scientific discovery, economic development and international collaboration that form the basis of U.S. leadership in space."

Here's what to know about the moon time zone. 

Why does the moon need its own time system?

Time on the moon moves differently than it does on Earth, which means that using the terrestrial time system, called Coordinated Universal Time, or UTC, wouldn't work. 

UTC is tracked by the weighted average of hundreds of atomic clocks across the planet, with so-called leap seconds periodically added to keep it aligned with the planet's solar days. But time on Earth doesn't quite track with lunar time because of relativity, the White House memo noted. 

In other words, someone on the moon would experience UTC time as distorted, with a terrestrial-based clock appearing to lose 58.7 microseconds each Earth day, the memo added. 

That may seem like a tiny difference, but the issues could mount when coordinating activities on the moon, such as a spacecraft seeking to dock on the moon or to undertake a data transfer at a specific time.

Will other countries use the same lunar time zone?

That's the goal. NASA is aiming to create LTC as the "international standard through existing standards bodies, and among the Artemis Accords signatories," according to the Office of Science and Technology Policy.

The Artemis Accords, a pact signed by dozens of nations, sets principles for exploration and development of the moon, Mars and asteroids. Countries continue to sign the pact, with Uruguay signing in February. Two major nations, China and Russia, have yet to come aboard.

What kind of economic development could occur on the moon?

The moon could represent a new commercial market in the 2030s and beyond, according to a 2022 NASA report about the Artemis Program.

Companies are likely to sell services such as transportation between Earth and the moon, as well as explore water extraction and resource mining activities, the report noted. Last year, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency tapped 14 companies to explore commercial activity on the moon, including Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and Elon Musk's SpaceX. 

In:
• Economy
• Moon
• NASA

Aimee Picchi

Aimee Picchi is the associate managing editor for CBS MoneyWatch, where she covers business and personal finance. She previously worked at Bloomberg News and has written for national news outlets including USA Today and Consumer Reports.

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