Coordinated Lunar Time
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Coordinated Lunar Time
The fact that “Coordinated Lunar Time” is abbreviated as LTC instead of CLT suggests that this is a international plan and the ITU has a finger in the pie - in the same way that Coordinated Universal Time is abbreviated as UTC instead of CUT…. **
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/m...nasa-n527dpkht
White House asks Nasa to create time zone for the moon
Astronauts and robots venturing to the moon will be able to set their watches to a whole new time-zone under plans being drawn up by Nasa to set a unified standard of lunar timekeeping as the modern space race heats up.
As Nasa prepares to establish a sustained human presence on the moon under its Artemis exploration programme, the White House has instructed the agency and other federal authorities to work together on creating Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC) — a benchmark in cosmic clock-watching.
“US leadership in defining a suitable standard — one that achieves the accuracy and resilience required for operating in the challenging lunar environment — will benefit all spacefaring nations,” Arati Prabhakar, director of the White House office of science and technology policy (OSTP), said in a memo.
Timekeeping on Earth is centred on Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), a 24-hour standard based on solar and atomic time, against which all time zones around the world are synchronised. Greenwich Mean Time mirrors UTC.
On the moon and other celestial bodies, differing gravitational forces create minuscule influences in how time passes relative to perceptions of time on Earth.
“Due to general and special relativity, the length of a second defined on Earth will appear distorted to an observer under different gravitational conditions, or to an observer moving at a high relative velocity. For example, to an observer on the moon, an Earth-based clock will appear to lose on average 58.7 microseconds per Earth-day with additional periodic variations,” Prabhakar added.
“This holds important implications for developing standards and capabilities for operating on or around the moon.”
The minuscule drift in time at the moon will, without correction, result in “cascading effects for applications that require precise metrology,” the memo, published by the White House on Tuesday, explained.
“These types of errors will have undesired impacts, such as reducing the accuracy of mapping and inertial navigation products. Defining a local time scale can provide a stable reference point for these base units and conversions that must be independently realised on the surface of the moon.”
Nasa plans to send astronauts on a flyby of the moon in 2025 and to land crew on the surface as soon as 2026…. Other nations including China and India have also declared plans to send astronauts to the moon over the longer term.
The upsurge in exploration and lunar commerce will necessitate more precise timekeeping for applications such as space-to-Earth communications and locating positions on the lunar surface. Timekeeping on other planets could also be adjusted using the same principle.
“As the pace of activity at the moon increases, the United States will define its strategy for scalable lunar time standardisation. Implementation will occur in parallel with infrastructure build-up, but agreement on the conceptual approach must happen in advance,” Prabhakar said.
“The definition of LTC and underlying ideal time standards such as lunar time are critical. Interagency collaboration and international agreements will be necessary to define the approach for realising LTC.”
** As suspected:
https://www.theguardian.com/science/...ted-lunar-time
….“A memo sent Tuesday from the head of the US Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) has asked the space agency to work with other US agencies and international agencies to establish a moon-centric time reference system….
Defining how to implement LTC will require international agreements, the memo said, through “existing standards bodies” and among the 36 nations that have signed a pact called the Artemis accords involving how countries act in space and on the moon.”….
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/m...nasa-n527dpkht
White House asks Nasa to create time zone for the moon
Astronauts and robots venturing to the moon will be able to set their watches to a whole new time-zone under plans being drawn up by Nasa to set a unified standard of lunar timekeeping as the modern space race heats up.
As Nasa prepares to establish a sustained human presence on the moon under its Artemis exploration programme, the White House has instructed the agency and other federal authorities to work together on creating Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC) — a benchmark in cosmic clock-watching.
“US leadership in defining a suitable standard — one that achieves the accuracy and resilience required for operating in the challenging lunar environment — will benefit all spacefaring nations,” Arati Prabhakar, director of the White House office of science and technology policy (OSTP), said in a memo.
Timekeeping on Earth is centred on Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), a 24-hour standard based on solar and atomic time, against which all time zones around the world are synchronised. Greenwich Mean Time mirrors UTC.
On the moon and other celestial bodies, differing gravitational forces create minuscule influences in how time passes relative to perceptions of time on Earth.
“Due to general and special relativity, the length of a second defined on Earth will appear distorted to an observer under different gravitational conditions, or to an observer moving at a high relative velocity. For example, to an observer on the moon, an Earth-based clock will appear to lose on average 58.7 microseconds per Earth-day with additional periodic variations,” Prabhakar added.
“This holds important implications for developing standards and capabilities for operating on or around the moon.”
The minuscule drift in time at the moon will, without correction, result in “cascading effects for applications that require precise metrology,” the memo, published by the White House on Tuesday, explained.
“These types of errors will have undesired impacts, such as reducing the accuracy of mapping and inertial navigation products. Defining a local time scale can provide a stable reference point for these base units and conversions that must be independently realised on the surface of the moon.”
Nasa plans to send astronauts on a flyby of the moon in 2025 and to land crew on the surface as soon as 2026…. Other nations including China and India have also declared plans to send astronauts to the moon over the longer term.
The upsurge in exploration and lunar commerce will necessitate more precise timekeeping for applications such as space-to-Earth communications and locating positions on the lunar surface. Timekeeping on other planets could also be adjusted using the same principle.
“As the pace of activity at the moon increases, the United States will define its strategy for scalable lunar time standardisation. Implementation will occur in parallel with infrastructure build-up, but agreement on the conceptual approach must happen in advance,” Prabhakar said.
“The definition of LTC and underlying ideal time standards such as lunar time are critical. Interagency collaboration and international agreements will be necessary to define the approach for realising LTC.”
** As suspected:
https://www.theguardian.com/science/...ted-lunar-time
….“A memo sent Tuesday from the head of the US Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) has asked the space agency to work with other US agencies and international agencies to establish a moon-centric time reference system….
Defining how to implement LTC will require international agreements, the memo said, through “existing standards bodies” and among the 36 nations that have signed a pact called the Artemis accords involving how countries act in space and on the moon.”….
Last edited by ORAC; 3rd Apr 2024 at 06:42.
I wonder if the White House was ready to ask for that on Monday but decided they'd better wait a day in case nobody believed them.
Last edited by netstruggler; 4th Apr 2024 at 12:18.
