Fri Sep 13 14:27:49 UTC 2024: ## NASA to Establish Coordinated Lunar Time for Future Moon Missions

**Washington, D.C.** – NASA is gearing up to establish a Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC) to support future lunar missions and ensure a safe and sustainable lunar ecosystem. This initiative comes after a policy directive from the White House in April.

The LTC, similar to Earth’s Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), will be calculated based on a weighted average of atomic clocks placed on the Moon’s surface. However, due to relativistic effects, these clocks will “tick” slightly faster than those on Earth, adding up to a difference of microseconds per day.

“For something traveling at the speed of light, 56 microseconds is enough time to travel the distance of approximately 168 football fields,” explained Cheryl Gramling, lead on lunar position, navigation, timing, and standards at NASA Headquarters. “This difference may seem small, but it could significantly impact the safety of astronauts and the accuracy of navigation systems.”

The agency’s Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) program is leading the efforts to develop a suitable mathematical model for establishing the LTC. This approach is also designed to be scalable for missions to Mars and other celestial bodies in the solar system, paving the way for long-duration space exploration.

“As the commercial space industry grows and more nations are active at the Moon, there is a greater need for time standardization,” said Dr. Ben Ashman, navigation lead for lunar relay development at NASA’s SCaN program. “A shared definition of time is an important part of safe, resilient, and sustainable operations.”

This initiative underscores NASA’s commitment to the Artemis program, which aims to establish a sustained human presence on and around the Moon. The LTC will play a crucial role in ensuring the success of future lunar missions and contribute to the advancement of space exploration in the years to come.

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