SHOULD THE MOON GET ITS OWN TIME ZONE?

The Earth has 24 time zones. What about the Moon? With dozens of lunar missions planned for the years ahead, the European Space Agency is suggesting that we create Moon Time as a universal method for lunar timekeeping. There are some significant hurdles, according to European space officials. For one, should a single space agency be responsible for establishing and maintaining “moon time”? And if a new time zone is created, should it be tied to time on Earth, or be its own thing entirely? In addition, clocks on the moon gain roughly 56 microseconds per day, making them tick ever so slightly faster than clocks on Earth. And, these tiny shifts also vary depending on location, which means clocks on the moon don’t necessarily run at the same rates as clocks in lunar orbit.
* Oh, screw the Moon then. We’re going to Mars. Mars knows how to keep time. AND, they know how to make a good candy bar.
* Maybe we should get the whole oxygen-and-water thing worked out before we start worrying about astronaut alarm clocks.
* Clocks tick faster on the Moon? Maybe NASA should upgrade to electric clocks.
* Hasn’t Star Trek already worked all this out: “Captain’s log, Stardate eleventy-fifty three eight-point Pi.”
* Now, let’s talk Moon zip codes.