The White House on Tuesday directed NASA to establish a standard time on the moon that would become an international norm amid the growing space race.

Nations venturing to the lunar surface currently use their own time zones when performing missions, but scientists have warned this method will not be sustainable as countries plan on establishing moon habitats.

Now, an internal memo from the head of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) instructed NASA to devices a Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC) by the end of 2026.

Without a unified lunar time, according to the memo, 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.

‘Imagine if the world wasn’t syncing their clocks to the same time – how disruptive that might be and how challenging everyday things become,’ Arati Prabhakar stated in the memo.

On Earth, most clocks and time zones are based on UCT, which is relies on a vast global network of atomic clocks placed in different locations around the world.

They measure changes in the state of atoms and generate an average that ultimately makes up a precise time.

Deployment of atomic clocks on the lunar surface may be needed, according to the OSTP official.

The European Space Agency (ESA) floated the same idea in 2023

The official also said that as commercial activities expand to the moon, a unified time standard would be essential for coordinating operations, ensuring the reliability of transactions and managing the logistics of lunar commerce.

The differing gravitational force, and potentially other factors, on the moon and on other celestial bodies change how time unfolds relative to how it is perceived on Earth.

Among other things, the LTC would provide a time-keeping benchmark for lunar spacecraft and satellites that require extreme precision for their missions.

‘The same clock that we have on Earth would move at a different rate on the moon,’ Kevin Coggins, NASA’s space communications and navigation chief, said in an interview.

Clocks run faster on the moon than on Earth, gaining about 56 microseconds each day and ticking occurs differently on the lunar surface than in lunar orbit.

‘Think of the atomic clocks at the U.S. Naval Observatory (in Washington). They’re the heartbeat of the nation, synchronizing everything. You’re going to want a heartbeat on the moon,’ Coggins said.

The OSTP memo also noted that a standard time would be necessary for all other celestial bodies, but would not be based on how long a day is.

For example, a day on Mars is 40 minutes longer than that one Earth.

But officials would want to create a new time that can ensure operations go smoothly for space fairing heroes set to colonize the Red Planet.

Under its Artemis program, NASA is aiming to send astronaut missions to the moon in the coming years and establish a scientific lunar base that could help set the stage for future missions to Mars.

Dozens of companies, spacecraft and countries are involved in the effort.

Discrepancies in time also could lead to errors in mapping and locating positions on or orbiting the moon, the official said.

NASA in January said it has scheduled for September 2026 its first astronaut lunar landing since the end of the Apollo program in the 1970s, with a mission flying four astronauts around the moon and back scheduled for September 2025.

While the United States is the only country to have put astronauts on the moon, others have lunar ambitions. Countries have their eyes on potential mineral resources on the moon, and lunar bases could help support future crewed missions to Mars and elsewhere.

China said last year it aims to put its first astronauts on the moon by 2030. Japan in January became the fifth country to put a spacecraft on the moon.

India last year became the first country to land a spacecraft near the unexplored lunar south pole, and it has announced plans to send an astronaut to the moon by 2040.

‘U.S. leadership in defining a suitable standard – one that achieves the accuracy and resilience required for operating in the challenging lunar environment – will benefit all spacefaring nations,’ the OSTP memo stated.

Defining how to implement Coordinated Lunar Time will require international agreements, the memo said, through ‘existing standards bodies’ and among the 36 nations that have signed a pact called the Artemis Accords involving how countries act in space and on the moon.

China and Russia, the two main U.S. rivals in space, have not signed the Artemis Accords.