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2024-11-11

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Nasa to create time standard for the Moon, where seconds tick faster than on Earth (www.independent.co.uk)

submitted 7 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC) needed due to differing gravitational forces

Nasa is working to create a new standard of time for the Moon that will see clocks move faster than on Earth, according to a White House memo.

The US Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) directed the US space agency to set up a moon-centric time reference system that accounts for its differing gravitational forces.

In a memo on Tuesday, OSTP chief Arati Prabhakar noted that Earth-based clocks would appear to lose 58.7 microseconds per Earth-day as a result of these factors.

Nasa has until 2026 to set up a unified time standard, which Ms Prabhakar referred to as Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC). It will then be used by astronauts, spacecraft and satellites that require highly accurate timekeeping.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago

Atomic clocks don't use atomic decay. They used the frequency of the light emitted by a very specific energy change, within an atom, under very controlled conditions.

The frequency of light will look the same on the moon. However, an observer on earth would see a very slightly different frequency from the moon clock.