Meanings
- neologismspaceA new lunar time zone standard that the White House has directed NASA to establish by 2026.First known use 2024
Nasa has until the end of 2026 to set up what is being called Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC).
2024 April 2, Diana Ramirez-Simon, “Moon Standard Time? Nasa to create lunar-centric time reference system”, in The Guardian^(https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/apr/02/moon-nasa-coordinated-lunar-time#:~:text=Nasa%20has%20until%20the%20end,Coordinated%20Lunar%20Time%20(LTC).&text=It's%20not%20quite%20a%20time,time%20reference%20for%20the%20moon)2 more examples
The United States wants the moon to have a time zone. Along with Eastern, Central, Mountain and Pacific times, we could have Coordinated Lunar Time. The moon's gravity means a super-precise atomic clock would run ever so slightly faster than on Earth. Over years, that difference would grow, complicating calculations between spacecraft and a lunar base.
2024 April 4, “Coordinated Lunar Time: The U.S. wants the moon to have its own time zone”, in Morning Edition, spoken by Steve Inskeep, via NPRFirst, the new Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC) needs to be translatable into Coordinated Universal Time (UTC); it needs to be accurate enough for precision space navigation and communication;
2025 May 5, John Loeffler, “What time is it on the moon? US House space committee wants a standard lunar clock”, in Space.com, archived from the original on 13 May 2025
Origin
Coined by NASA on 2 April 2024.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Coordinated Lunar Time. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Coordinated%20Lunar%20Time
“Coordinated Lunar Time.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Coordinated%20Lunar%20Time. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Coordinated Lunar Time,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Coordinated%20Lunar%20Time.
Source: Coordinated Lunar Time on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.