Space phenomena have drawn the attention of human beings for thousands of years, and the Moon is one of them. After the Apollo 11 mission, which turns 54 in 2023, humanity has returned to the Moon several times.
However, a curious phenomenon draws attention: so far, no one can tell what time it is on the Moon. It seems strange, since our day is 24 hours long. Thinking about it, there is a discussion in the scientific community that intends to change this scenario and create an official time for the Moon.
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What time is it on the moon?
The above question, which could be asked by a very curious child, is the Agency's new topic of debate European Space Agency (ESA), to unify the work of different space agencies around the world.
That's because, with the estimated increase in human activity on the surface of the Moon, expected for the next few years, each country would have a different time for their activities.
In this way, aiming to make the work more organized, with the power to better orient themselves on the surface of the Moon, space agents propose the novelty beyond curious.
The idea is still in its early stages, so there is no definition of which agency would be in charge of defining the Moon's time zone.
Likewise, the discussion about following the specific time of a given country or creating a specific time zone for a lunar region is open.
Moon has different time than Earth's surface
The great difficulty in establishing a time for the Moon lies in the weaker gravitational force on Earth. lunar surface, which makes clocks run faster and shortens days by 56 microseconds.
At first, this time difference may seem small, however, over time, the accumulation can record more days on the Moon compared to time on Earth.
This is what happens in certain areas of the Moon, which vary in the length of their days, which can last approximately 30 days and have nights lasting 14 days.
The next crewed space mission should take place in 2024, lasting approximately 10 days. Called Artemis 2, it will be launched by NASA.