You've heard of island time ... but get ready for lunar time.
Experts believe the moon may need its own time zone as part of the current rise in celestial expeditions, Axios reports.
"As dozens of missions will be operating on and around the moon and needing to communicate together and fix their positions independently from Earth, this new era will require its own time," the European Space Agency (ESA) said Monday, adding that, until now, each moon mission has "been operated on its own timescale exported from Earth."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The ESA is reportedly collaborating with other space agencies including NASA in a "joint international effort" to determine what a lunar time zone might look like. But such a project could prove rather difficult, seeing as clocks on the moon tick slightly faster than on Earth, reports Axios. "This will be quite a challenge on a planetary surface where in the equatorial region each day is 29.5 days long, including freezing fortnight-long lunar nights, with the whole of Earth just a small blue circle in the dark sky," explained Bernhard Hufenbach, part of ESA's Directorate of Human and Robotic Exploration.
Experts are unsure whether one space agency should set and maintain the lunar time. "The international community will also have to settle on a common 'selenocentric reference frame,'" writes the ESA, referring to the International Terrestrial Reference Frame, which allows for the "consistent measurement of precise distances between points across our planet."
If scientists are able to establish "a working time system for the moon, we can go on to do the same for other planetary destinations," commented Hufenbach.
-
England’s ‘dysfunctional’ children’s care systemIn the Spotlight A new report reveals that protection of youngsters in care in England is failing in a profit-chasing sector
-
Cider farms to visit this autumnThe Week Recommends With harvest season fast approaching, spend an afternoon at one of these idyllic orchards
-
Endangered shark meat is being mislabeled and sold in the USUnder the radar It could cause both health and ecological problems
-
Africa could become the next frontier for space programsThe Explainer China and the US are both working on space applications for Africa
-
NASA reveals ‘clearest sign of life’ on Mars yetSpeed Read The evidence came in the form of a rock sample collected on the planet
-
SpaceX breaks Starship losing streak in 10th testspeed read The Starship rocket's test flight was largely successful, deploying eight dummy satellites during its hour in space
-
Hurricanes are not exclusive to Earth. They can happen in space.Under the radar These storms may cause navigational problems
-
Rabbits with 'horns' sighted across Coloradospeed read These creatures are infected with the 'mostly harmless' Shope papilloma virus
-
Why does the US want to put nuclear reactors on the moon?Today's Big Question The plans come as NASA is facing significant budget cuts
-
Lithium shows promise in Alzheimer's studySpeed Read Potential new treatments could use small amounts of the common metal
-
Scientists discover cause of massive sea star die-offSpeed Read A bacteria related to cholera has been found responsible for the deaths of more than 5 billion sea stars
