Space is the final frontier… for timekeeping, at least!
With the push to land humans on the moon, especially for extended periods, the need to have a “moon time” becomes even more critical. You see, time passes differently on the Moon than it does on Earth.
Currently, space missions communicate with team members on Earth using coordinated universal time (UTC) as a common time. However, this won't work on the moon as a lunar clock would gain about 56 microseconds over the course of an Earth day. If humans on the Moon operated with normal clocks, they would completely desynchronize from Earth time.
The return-to-space-race, if you will, is made up of many sprints, across several fields of engineering and space science. One of the sprints is the race to define time itself.
As humans prepare to have a human presence on the moon, space agencies have determined a need for a separate time system, to address the fact that a clock on the Moon would run slightly faster than a clock on Earth.
https://gizmodo.com/white-house-nasa-coordinated-lunar-time-clocks-artemis-1851382618
![Earth Planet as seen from Moon surface. The surface of Moon, strewn with small rocks and sand. Flight over Moon craters. Lunar outpost in the distance. Apollo Mission inspired. Following Shot of Brave Astronaut in Space Suit Confidently Walking on the Moon Surface. Space Planet as viewed from Moon surface. The surface of the moon, strewn with small rocks and sand. Flight over Moon craters. Moon surface, Desert, Cliffs, sand. Covered in Rocks. First Astronaut On the Moon Surface. Big Moment for the Human Race. Advanced Technologies, Space Exploration/ Travel, Colonisation Concept. NASA Public Domain Imagery. https://www.solarsystemscope.com/textures/ https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/details.cgi?aid=4720](https://images.passle.net/fit-in/860x860/Passle/60211dc9e5416a0c14bc63d4/SearchServiceImages/2024-04-02-21-43-28-958-660c7c0044129106e7693900.jpg)