As expeditions to the Moon are on the rise and long-term human settlements are increasingly becoming a reality, a literal time check is needed. And that’s what the European Space Agency (ESA) said Monday.
Currently, each lunar mission uses its own timescale from Earth, which is not sustainable in the long run, so space organizations are considering using a standard Moon time, says the ESA.
The challenges
Coordination between all space organizations is needed to set a standard Moon timezone. Earth clocks on our natural satellite run 56 microseconds faster per day than on Earth, according to the ESA. And a day on the Moon can be as long as 29.5 days on Earth.
Even if all the time calculations are sorted, there is still the question of who is responsible for maintaining the common Moon time.