As global lunar exploration continues to increase, a curious question arises - how should time on the moon be defined? On Earth, we have national standard time, which is regulated by Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), but on the Moon, the problem is no longer simple.
According to the South China Morning Post, a well-known international media in Hong Kong, the world's two superpowers, China and United States, are now engaged in a "competition" over how to set a time standard on the moon, and who will master this standard means who will occupy more say in future lunar exploration.
The United States and its partners are advancing the creation of a dedicated lunar time zone, which they call Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC), a system that will be used to support exploration activities on the moon by countries, including members of the Artemis Accords.
At the same time, China and Russia have chosen to go the other way, planning to build their own lunar time and navigation systems.
China and the United States have their respective lunar time zones and navigation systems
This move by the United States was directly promoted by the White House. By creating LTC, NASA hopes to support more countries and companies in lunar exploration and establish United States' leadership in this emerging field, according to a memo released in April.
Especially given that more and more manned and unmanned missions will land on the moon in the future, it is even more important to share a unified time standard. During the Cold War, each country's lunar exploration vehicle used its own national time standard, which was not much of a problem in the relatively independent lunar exploration missions at that time, but the situation is no longer the same.
China and Russia have chosen to lead the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) project, which aims to establish a permanent base at the moon's south pole by 2035.
In addition to this ambitious goal, China plans to establish its own lunar time zone by 2028, while developing lunar communications and internet systems to further support activities on the moon.
According to a proposal from the Beijing Institute of Space Vehicle Systems Engineering, China plans to launch 21 satellites to form a Beidou-like constellation of lunar satellites, which will provide high-precision services for future lunar navigation and time synchronization.
It's important to note that there is currently no unified time system on the Moon, and each lunar mission uses a separate timetable connected to Earth's Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), which is feasible for separate missions, but can be problematic when multiple missions are carried out by multiple vehicles.
This, combined with the difference in the gravitational field between the Earth and the Moon, causes the clock to travel at different speeds on the surface of the Moon and on Earth – the atomic clock on the Moon is 56 microseconds faster per day than on Earth, and although it may seem small, it is essential for the precise synchronization of space missions.
As NASA notes, the future LTC will be determined by a weighted average of atomic clocks placed on the Moon, similar to how scientists calculate UTC on Earth.
NASA and its partners are currently working on which mathematical models are best suited for establishing lunar time. For the International Lunar Research Station project led by China and Russia, it has not yet been determined whether the same time standard as the Artemis program will be used.
In fact, the establishment of time standards is not only to facilitate space missions, but also to be a symbol of political power and influence.
In 1884, Greenwich Mean Time was established as Universal Standard Time, a decision not only for convenience, but also to reflect United Kingdom's dominance in navigation, trade, and science at the time.
And today, whoever can set the standard of time on the moon is expected to have a head start in this new space race.
From this perspective, the time struggle between China and the United States is far more than a competition in the field of science and technology, but also a struggle for the right to speak in the future and the right to formulate international rules.
In this context, China's independent lunar exploration program is particularly crucial, which not only demonstrates the mainland's technological confidence in space exploration, but also marks the mainland's gradual progress towards a leading position in the field of space.
From the perspective of the lunar time dispute, we can see the essence of the space game between China and the United States
Behind the competition for the lunar time standard, it actually reflects the increasingly fierce strategic game between China and the United States in the field of space.
In a sense, the standard of time is the standard of rules, and whoever can set the standard of lunar time is likely to have an advantage in future lunar exploration and development.
United States has been trying in recent years to reassert leadership on the moon through the Artemis program and to attract more countries through the Artemis Accords.
This agreement not only involves scientific exploration, but also contains a legal framework for the future development of lunar resources, and is an important tool for United States to try to take the lead in lunar development.
The proposal of "coordinating lunar time" is obviously an extension of this strategy United States, and the underlying logic behind it is to strengthen the coordination between the countries of the Artemis program and build a lunar exploration order with United States as the core.
In contrast, China has opted for a more independent strategy on the path of lunar exploration. Since the launch of the Chang'e project, China has been adhering to an independent development path, gradually realizing the leap from unmanned exploration to manned lunar exploration, and occupying a leading position in the plan to establish a long-term base at the south pole of the moon.
This not only demonstrates China's great progress in space technology, but also reflects China's strategic determination in space exploration to build its own lunar exploration and development system without relying on other countries.
Different from the United States multinational alliance strategy, the International Lunar Research Station project promoted by China and Russia puts more emphasis on equal cooperation and resource sharing.
Whether it is a planned lunar time standard or a future navigation and communications network, the independence and scalability of these systems will provide greater flexibility for the International Lunar Research Station project and avoid being bound by a United States-dominated system of rules.
From a larger perspective, the competition between China and the United States on the moon reflects the arrival of a new round of space race on a global scale. Unlike the US-Soviet space race during the Cold War, today's space race revolves more around resource development and rule-making.
This is why the competition for the lunar time standard is particularly important - the establishment of the time standard not only helps to improve the efficiency and safety of mission execution, but also is part of the power game for the development of lunar resources in the future.
However, China's advantage in this race lies in its increasingly mature space industry system and continuous investment in technology.
From Chang'e-5 to the successful landing of the Tianwen-1 probe on Mars, China has been steadily advancing its space exploration at every step. The construction of the future lunar south pole base and the independent time and navigation system demonstrate China's long-term plan for future lunar development.
It is worth mentioning that the formulation of lunar time standards also involves a deeper understanding of the laws of the universe by human beings. For example, due to the different gravitational fields of the Moon, time passes at different speeds on the surface of the Moon and on Earth, which also requires scientists to explore more in terms of time synchronization and precision control.
These questions may seem highly technical, but in fact, they reflect the interweaving of science, technology, and political forces – whoever can make a breakthrough on these issues will be in a better position for future international cooperation.
A little summary
Overall, the race between China and the United States on the moon is not only for the convenience of scientific exploration, but also an important symbol of the competition for influence between the two countries in the field of space.
Through its independent exploration program, China has not only made technological breakthroughs, but also demonstrated an attitude of openness and sharing in international cooperation. And this attitude may be the key to China's emergence in the new round of space race.
In the future, as more and more countries join the ranks of lunar exploration, the battle for lunar time standards may become more complicated, but it is certain that whoever can set the standards will have more say in the future development of the moon.
For China, this is not only a competition in science and technology, but also an opportunity to demonstrate national strength and leadership.