NASA and other space agencies around the world have their sights set on the Moon once again, and everyone expects to put human beings back there in the near future.

So, it isn’t really surprising that some are suggesting the Moon needs its own time zone to keep things organized.

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) is behind the push for “Lunar Coordinate Time,” and it is gaining traction.

They believe the Moon having a standard clock time would make coordinating future lunar missions from different countries easier.

They passed the motion on August 15th at their XXXII General Assembly in Cape Town, South Africa. They want the new time zone to be reached by “international agreement.”

Willy Benz, the IAU’s incoming president, issued a statement.

“As we leave Cape Town and reflect on the legacy of this event, let us remember that together we are pushing the frontiers of astronomical knowledge in a collective effort to better understand the Universe we live in, our origins and our future, and to make the world a better place for all.”

The fact that there’s no agreed time zone on the Moon is a growing problem, since uncrewed missions use the time zone’s of the country where the craft originated.

Between manned missions sent by countries and those planned by private companies, a unified clock on the Moon will likely be necessary in the near future.

Time dilation will come into play.

General and special relativity come into play, making the duration of a second on the Moon appear distorted to an observer on Earth.

Time on the Moon’s surface lasts an average of 57.5 microseconds faster than it does down here, and even though that’s small, it will make a difference when it comes to scientific calculations.

This is not the first time a “Coordinated Lunar Time” has been discussed, and the White House wants it done by the end of 2026.

Bijunath Patla, a physicist, thinks the time is ripe.

“I think that the community has realized that this needs to be done. And this is the beginning.”

We don’t know how long it will take to the end, but we’ll get there.

You can’t have space ships crashing into each other on the Moon.

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