I called someone on the other side of the world. Where I was, it was 9:00pm. Where they were, it was 11:00am the next day.
This got me thinking about Star Trek. Frequently in Voyager, Tom Paris is late to his "Oh nine hundred" shift on the bridge.
In the Star Trek universe, How does the Federation determine how to set their clocks? Do they set the ship's clocks by San Fransisco time regardless of the local time in that part of the galaxy?
Do they adjust the time to that of the local capital planet of the solar system they're in?
I'm hoping someone with an official writers guide can shed some light into this.
Answer
I would assume, since Earth is referred to in ST:TNG episode The Best of Both Worlds as being sector 001. Probably because the Federation was established on Earth. I would think it would be easiest if Federation ships utilize Greenwich Mean Time, so every ship can have a common time, and base a 24-hour day aboard ship off of it.
I'm sure a compromise could be made, for those Federation crew members whose health would be adversely effected by a 24-hour day. Some species might need shorter or longer days, and their work schedule would be adjusted accordingly, and their quarters likewise adjusted. I am sure like the series Babylon 5, larger ships would have specialized quarters for those beings whose home environment is unlike our own. This can be seen to some small degree in ST:TOS, when Spock turns up the heat in his cabin to reflect the conditions on Vulcan, in the episode Amok Time in which he is going through Pon Farr.
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