NASA wants to come up with a new clock for the moon, where seconds tick away faster
World
In the United States, the White House has directed NASA to develop a strategy by the end of 2026 for creating Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC). This will be a new time standard based on Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) on Earth but adapted to the Moon.
Navigation systems are tied to UTC, but due to gravitational effects, seconds on the Moon and on Earth are of different lengths: the more massive an object, the slower time flows near it. This means a second is shorter on the Moon.
Creating a one-second offset will take almost 50 years, so this difference is almost imperceptible to humans. However, it can pose a problem for navigation and related operations—such as spacecraft rendezvous in lunar orbit, where very high precision is required.
It is envisaged that lunar time can be established similarly to terrestrial time standards, which utilize a network of atomic clocks.
Creating a one-second offset will take almost 50 years, so this difference is almost imperceptible to humans. However, it can pose a problem for navigation and related operations—such as spacecraft rendezvous in lunar orbit, where very high precision is required.
It is envisaged that lunar time can be established similarly to terrestrial time standards, which utilize a network of atomic clocks.
Powered by Froala Editor