Coordinated Lunar Time: US Government’s Plan to Establish Extraterrestrial Time Standard for Space Flights

The US government has announced plans to create a new time zone called Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC) in 2026. This time zone will be established on the Moon by NASA, who have been instructed to create it in order to establish extraterrestrial time standards for safety and accuracy during space flights. LTC will be based on Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) followed by the International Space Station.

Scottish Astronomer Royal Professor Catherine Heymans explains that gravity affects the passage of time differently in different places in the universe. By creating a time zone for the Moon, countries and companies aiming for space exploration can make more accurate calculations. The US aims to remain a pioneer in space travel by implementing LTC before its manned mission to the Moon in 2026.

Finland is currently three hours ahead of UTC in summer and two hours in winter. News agencies like Reuters, Britannia, and the BBC, as well as Australian science magazine Cosmos, have reported on the US government’s plans for creating LTC. Time passes slightly differently in space than on Earth, with each day on the Moon being about 58.7 microseconds faster than on Earth.

The European Space Agency (ESA) has also prepared a similar system for space time zones. NASA’s implementation of LTC is expected to mark a new era in space exploration and enable more precise calculations for future missions to the Moon.