[nitwit005]

> Is this actually needed in practice?

No.

The actual problem is a political one. Past missions have used the local time from where the mission was based. They want an agreed time for international missions.

This talk of ultra precise clocks being sent to the moon seems very unlikely to happen, as it isn't relevant to solving the political problem.

[yencabulator]

Then it's a lot of hot air where UTC would suffice.