WASHINGTON – Time passes a little faster on the moon. Now an international group of astronomers has joined the call to give the moon its own clock so that future space missions can keep track of the minutes on the celestial body.
The International Astronomical Union held a vote on Thursday calling on space agencies around the world to work together to set a time standard for the Moon, where a day lasts 29.5 Earth days.
“That’s the essence of our resolution: We need to work together to establish this standard time,” said Susan Stewart of the US Naval Observatory this week at the group’s conference in Cape Town, South Africa. Stewart was involved in drafting the resolution.
The Moon has less gravity than Earth, so time passes faster by about 58.7 microseconds each day. As more countries and private companies consider future lunar missions, astronomers want to ensure perfect synchronization with a unified clock. Currently, lunar missions run on the time of the country operating the spacecraft.
The European Space Agency pushed for the development of a lunar clock last year. And earlier this year, the White House directed NASA and other agencies to develop an initial idea by the end of the year and present a final plan by the end of 2026.
According to Bijunath Patla, a physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, astronomers are still at the very beginning of their efforts to determine the exact course of lunar time.
“I think the community has realized this needs to be done,” Patla said. “And this is the beginning.”
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