NASA Considers Using Floating Clocks in Space to Tell Time on the Moon

The White House announced earlier this year that it would implement unified lunar time standard By 2027, this is a key step as NASA aims to establish a permanent presence on Moon surface. Two Colorado-based researchers have proposed a solution in a recently published scientific paper that involves using floating clocks in space to calculate the time difference between Earth and the moon.

Humanity has never faced the problem of time zone differences between two celestial bodies. In terrestrial terms, the time difference between the Eastern and Pacific time zones in the United States is three hours. It has been fixed and has not changed. Time on the Moon is about 56 to 57 microseconds faster due to weaker gravitational forces, with clocks gradually falling out of sync as time goes on.

Last week, Neil Ashby, a professor at the University of Colorado, and Bijjunath Batla, a scientist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, published a paper in the Astronomical Journal . The researchers proposed a solution to link the Earth and Moon using Lagrange points as gravitational midpoints. Futurism explains:

Clocks placed in orbits at Lagrange points, or points in space where a small body under the gravitational influence of two larger bodies can remain in the same position relative to it, would act as “time-transfer links” between Earth and the moon, because these orbital sweet spots “provide a low-acceleration noise environment” that allows scientists to easily correct for relativity, the researchers wrote in the study.

And because it’s not just the gravity of these two celestial bodies that’s at play, the researchers also included a set of parameters that take into account the tidal influence of other planets and the sun. They also had to take into account the rotation of both the Earth and the moon, and dozens of other cosmic factors that could make you feel dizzy.

Space agencies will have a constant to calculate times on both bodies in a range of variables. In theory, this standard could be moved further as humanity advances. Reach Mars, Ir Solar System And maybe the Milky Way in the distant future.