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.

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[–] AA5B 5 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

Probably needed for GPS! That should be one of the milestones for a colony - a GPS and communication relay constellation, so you can navigate, create precise maps, and always be in communication range for any common amount of data/voice

[–] Spiralvortexisalie 2 points 7 months ago

My guess was encryption, especially for certificates to send packets between Earth and Moon entities, prevent forging or replay/playback attacks. Another Source pretty much confirms it: “An OSTP official said that without a unified lunar time standard it would be challenging to ensure that data transfers between spacecraft are secure and that communications between Earth, lunar satellites, bases and astronauts are synchronized.”