Scientists Call for New Lunar Time Zone, Amid Growing Number , of Missions to the Moon .
Fox News reports that
the European Space Agency (ESA) plans
to give the moon its own time zone. .
According to Pietro Giordano, a navigation system engineer
for the ESA, scientists want to find a "common lunar
reference time" to keep track of time when on the moon.
A joint international effort is now
being launched towards achieving this, Pietro Giordano, navigation system engineer
for the ESA, via Fox News.
The news comes as private companies and
nations have plans to travel to the moon. .
Fox News reports the idea of creating a new
lunar time zone was first introduced during
a meeting in the Netherlands in 2022.
Currently, astronauts use the time
of the nation operating the mission
while in space or around the moon.
As the number of lunar missions grows, scientists
are searching for a more efficient way of
accurately recording and communicating time.
Fox News reports that NASA faced a similar
decision when construction of the International
Space Station began over twenty years ago.
Rather than determining a unique time
zone for the ISS, scientists use Coordinated
Universal Time (UTC) based on atomic clocks.
Fox News reports that UTC takes into account the difference between NASA, the Canadian Space Agency
and other space programs in Japan, Europe and Russia.
Fox News reports that UTC takes into account the difference between NASA, the Canadian Space Agency
and other space programs in Japan, Europe and Russia