A simplified calendar for the scientific age. Proposed in an
Omni magazine article, this calendar features a regular cycle of 13
months of 28 days each and an origin point that is not based on a
religious event. The months are named alphabetically after
scientists, Archimedes to Mendel, instead of for ancient
gods
and
emperors. The origin point is the moment
Neil
Armstrong uttered the word Tranquility
in the broadcast from the surface of the moon: "
Houston ... Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed." The day
this happened, July 20, 1969 AD, is known as Moon Landing Day in the new
calendar, and is not part of any year. Years begin on Archimedes
1, and the last day of the year, on the anniversary of Moon Landing
Day, is Armstrong Day. The
intercalary day corresponding
to February 29th is known as Aldrin Day for the moon walker
Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, and falls between Hippocrates 27 & 28.
Instead of taking as its epoch an event of religious
significance and uncertain time, the epochal point of the Tranquility
calendar is a non-religious event that is historically
significant for all humanity, the timing of which is known to a very
high degree of accuracy.
The year 1 A.T. (After Tranquility) began the day after Moon Landing
Day, on Archimedes 1, and ended on the first anniversary of the moon
landing, Armstrong Day, 1 A.T. (July 20, 1970). The 34th
anniversary of the moon landing will be on July 20, 2003, making it
Armstrong Day, 34 A.T.
Months of the Tranquility calendar:
Handy table of dates in the Tranquility calendar:
Source: "Lunar Timekeeper", Jeff Siggins,
Omni July 1989,
pp. 96-102.