Org mode timestamps on the Moon ;] (was: [FEATURE REQUEST] Timezone support in org-mode datestamps and org-agenda)

[Ihor Radchenko]

Tom Gillespie <tgbugs@gmail.com> writes:

> ; given my objective to ensure that org documents can be interpreted
> ; without having to stick stupid things like #+planet: mars in the
> ; header or risk your earthling readers getting incorrect dates --- I
> ; suggest that org switch to storing all dates and times in earth zulu
> ; time ...

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00185-z

"The coming decade will see a resurgence in lunar exploration —
including dozens of missions and plans to establish permanent bases on
the Moon. The endeavours pose myriad challenges. Among them is a subtle,
but fundamental, question that metrologists worldwide are working to
answer: what time is it on the Moon?"

...

"It’s not obvious what form a universal lunar time would take. Clocks on
Earth and the Moon naturally tick at different speeds, because of the
differing gravitational fields of the two bodies"

...

"Decisions must be made soon,... If an official lunar time is not
established, space agencies and private companies will come up with
their own solutions" (and Org too?)

...

"Moon missions will also need an official lunar time to cooperate and
communicate, says Hahn. “All this has to trace to one kind of a time
reference, otherwise you have chaos and things do not work together.”"

...

"The Moon’s gravitational pull is weaker than Earth’s, meaning that, to
an observer on Earth, a lunar clock would run faster than an Earth one.
Gramling estimates that a lunar clock would gain about 56 microseconds
over 24 hours" (how will it affect Org's timestamps? should we do
anything about it?)

"...a clock’s speed would also subtly change depending on its position
on the lunar surface, because of the Moon’s rotation" (oh, dear...)

...

“The idea is to produce a Solar System internet,” says Gramling. “And
the first part would be at the Moon.” 

-- 
Ihor Radchenko // yantar92,
Org mode contributor,
Learn more about Org mode at <https://orgmode.org/>.
Support Org development at <https://liberapay.com/org-mode>,
or support my work at <https://liberapay.com/yantar92>