Establishing a system for counting and coordinating time on the Moon allows the same to be done for other planetary destinations in the future. But it is not easy
With dozens of lunar missions planned worldwide over the next decade, the European Space Agency (ESA) has proposed establishing a time zone on the Moon in order to simplify communication between the natural satellite and Earth.
Just as GPS systems on Earth require precise coordination, the same is needed with any infrastructure that is built and operated on the Moon. Scientists had already been faced with the temporal coordination of space missions when building the International Space Station. Although it does not have its own time zone, it operates on Coordinated Universal Time, which is meticulously regulated by atomic clocks.
European space officials say that a single time zone would simplify the organization and coordination of the multiple missions operating on the lunar surface and orbit at the same time, especially since more countries and even private companies are competing, whether on reconnaissance missions, or sending astronauts. According to the ESA, it is important to define a common lunar reference time that is internationally accepted and where all lunar systems can be included.
Still, experts have not been able to determine exactly how this time zone would work, since clocks move faster on the Moon than on Earth - thanks to the effect of our planet's gravitational field: a clock on the Moon gains about 56 microseconds every 24 hours. In addition, time counting differs between the lunar surface and orbit, which makes time also depend on its position on our satellite.
"This is going to be a considerable challenge on a surface where each day in the equatorial region has 29.5 days, including freezing lunar nights that last a fortnight," admits ESA's Bernhard Hufenbach.
The push to create a lunar time zone comes as NASA plans to send the first astronauts to the Moon more than half a century after the last mission. China, meanwhile, has ambitions to establish a permanent mission to the lunar south pole by 2029. Russia, Japan, South Korea and India have also announced their scientific reconnaissance programs on the Moon.
The ESA also said that the current issues under debate center on whether a single organization should be responsible for determining and maintaining lunar time, and whether it should be set on an independent basis or be synchronized with Earth.