The U.S. government has directed NASA to give the Moon its own time zone.

“Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC)” must be defined and established by end-2026, according to a memo sent to NASA by the U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). The linked memo explains precisely why it is needed.

“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 program manager, told Reuters. Why? Because gravity is different.