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A Giant Step Toward Tracking Lunar Time

The new, groundbreaking plan allows for a more in-depth exploration of the moon’s surface.

The Moon orbits across the face of the Earth. Credits: NASA/NOAA

The moon orbits across the face of the Earth. Credit: NASA/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Officials with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are developing a plan to precisely and consistently track time on the moon.

Now some may ask, “Isn’t time the same on the Earth and moon,” or “Why does it matter what time it is on the moon?”

But Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity states that gravity affects how quickly time goes by. Furthermore, time moves slower in places that have stronger gravitational pulls and vice versa.

NIST officials said in a press release that in this case, the gravity on the moon is weaker than on Earth, meaning the clock ticks slightly faster. Specifically, atomic clocks tick faster on the moon than those on Earth by 56 microseconds per day.

This might seem minuscule, but scientists say this time difference could disrupt the precise timing needed for important activities like spacecraft landings and communicating with Earth.

To address the issue, NIST researchers have created a system to track lunar time by accounting for the moon’s unique gravitational pull. The plan establishes a master “moon time” that can tell the precise time on the moon’s surface, like how Coordinated Universal Time functions on Earth.

“It’s like having the entire moon synchronized to one ‘time zone’ adjusted for the moon’s gravity, rather than having clocks gradually drift out of sync with Earth’s time,” NIST physicist Bijunath Patla said in the release.

The plan includes a widespread network of clocks at specific locations on the moon’s surface and in lunar orbits. These atomic clocks in the moon’s orbit would function as satellites, providing researchers with precise times for navigation.

Without this network, NIST researchers say landing and operating on the moon would be like trying to navigate on Earth without any sort of GPS system. Without such a network, astronauts only have a rough idea of their location, making it difficult to carry out complex operations or travel long distances.

“The goal is to ensure that spacecraft can land within a few meters of their intended destination,” Patla said.

This innovation comes as NASA is gearing up to officially launch its Artemis Program, which will take four more people to the moon, including the first woman and first person of color.

The program aims to establish a sustained human presence on the lunar surface, and officials hope the missions could lead to more space exploration, including sending the first astronauts to Mars.