Space organizations would like the moon to have its own time zone

Space agencies want to create a dedicated lunar time system to facilitate interagency space exploration.

The benefit from moon It increased tremendously for a while, in large part because a human being was about to set foot on it again. Space agencies and private companies around the world are preparing their Moon missions for the coming years and it would be very complicated to coordinate with each other if everyone was using different time zones. During a meeting at the European Space Agency (ESA) European Space Research and Technology Center (ESTEC) in the Netherlands last year, space organizations spoke of the “importance and urgency of Determine the common lunar reference timeIn an announcement, ESA Navigation Systems Engineer Pietro Giordano said that “a joint international effort is now underway to make this happen.”

Space agencies want to create a time system dedicated to the moon

Currently, space agencies use their own time zone for onboard time counters and two-way communication systems. Doing so, the European Space Agency said, “would not be sustainable over time” in the era of lunar exploration. Missions from different countries will conduct joint observations and countries will have to communicate with each other, even if they don’t work together directly if they are on the moon at the same time.

However, deciding on and maintaining this prime time will not be easy and will present many unique challenges. As the European Space Agency points out, “accurate navigation requires strict time tracking,” which is why a topic of the International Group of Space Organizations will decide whether or not to keep that lunar time synchronized with the Earth, because clocks run faster on the Moon. While there are a large number of factors that must be considered, whatever solution is chosen must remain practical for astronauts in orbit or on lunar soil.

This is to facilitate inter-agency space exploration

Bernhard Hoffenbach, member of the European Space Agency’s Lunar Exploration Team, said: “It would be a real challenge on the surface of a planet where each day at the equator lasts 29.5 days, with lunar nights fifteen days of freezing cold, and the Earth is only a small blue dot in the black sky. But with the establishment of a working time system, we can do the same for other planetary destinations.”