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.
My guess is because the time scale is different, not just the hour offset. “Seconds tick faster than earth” — this would imply that if using UTC, the moon would move from one offset to another, then another and so on over time.