US Govt Directs NASA to Formulate Time Standard for Moon, A 1st in World History

For the first time in world history, the US government has directed NASA to create a lunar time standard. On Tuesday, the White House announced that it has directed NASA to create a unified time standard for the Moon and other celestial bodies.

This decision of the US government comes at a time when several nations and private companies have started to compete in space eyeing the moon.

The recent decision of the United States hints that it is keen to set international norms beyond Earth’s orbit. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) instructed NASA to formulate a plan for a standard it is calling Coordinated Lunar Time by the end of 2026.

“As NASA, private companies, and space agencies around the world launch missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond, it’s important that we establish celestial time standards for safety and accuracy,” OSTP Deputy Director for National Security Steve Welby said in a statement.

“A consistent definition of time among operators in space is critical to successful space situational awareness capabilities, navigation, and communications,” Welby said.

The White House directed NASA to work with the Departments of Commerce, Defense, State and Transportation to deliver a time standard strategy that will improve navigation and other operations for missions in particular in cislunar space, the region between Earth and the Moon.

Just as Terrestrial Time is set through an ensemble of atomic clocks on Earth, an ensemble of clocks on the Moon might set Lunar Time.

The United States is planning a mission to the Moon in 2026.