Galactic Standard Calendar

The Galactic Standard Calendar, also known as the Augment Calendar,  is the primary method of tracking time in the settled territories. It created new units of time in order to accomodate the massive expansion of human longevity via genetic augmentations. In addition, it was developed to serve as a fixed time reference throughout the galaxy. The standard calendar has been in service since the first interstellar colony was settled.

Units of Time

 * Second, Minute, Hour: Remain unchanged.
 * "Local Day:" Unofficial, casual term that measures time between sunsets. Varies by location.
 * Standard Day: 32 hours. The length of time it takes the homeworld, Eshduri, to complete a rotation.
 * Week: 10 standard days.
 * Month: 5 weeks / 50 days.
 * Year: 10 months / 50 weeks / 500 days.
 * Deka: 10 years
 * Centa: 100 years
 * Cycle: 3000 years / 30 centas. The time it takes Eshduri to complete a glaciation cycle.

Common Use
Time is perceived differently by modern, augmented humans. A year, the classical method of measuring's one progress in life, is now a mundane unit of time that gets overlooked in the normal grind. An employee is typically awarded an extended vacation following a year of standard work, and small festivals may occur on a yearly basis. A traditional lifetime of eighty years now feels like a brief moment that is soon forgotten -- little more than a summer break to us.

The centa is the most common unit of time in the modern calendar. Financial cycles, educational modules, periods of military service, and major holidays are based on the centa. The longest voyages in space, from one edge of the settled territories to another, can take several centas to complete in the eyes of a fixed observer.

The cycle is the largest unit of time - and has taken the place of the year in determining one's "place" in life. The modern human lifespan is thirty cycles. Genetic engineering has ensured that humans come of age relatively quickly, stay young and virile for the majority of their lives, then decline rapidly in their final five cycles.


 * Cycles 1 - 9: Birth to legal adulthood. These years are dedicated to extensive education and life training. Studies range from language skills to advanced mathematics, astrophysics, exobiology, and the natural sciences of multiple planets.


 * Cycles 10 - 25: Adulthood. The average person will have many careers in their lifetime and, for some, periods of military service. People can marry and have children throughout this period, with many opting to wait until the later cycles.


 * Cycles 25 - 30: Decline. Adults begin to age, steadily losing their virility and strength. Most will enter retirement and live out their final cycles in peace.

Relativity
The calendar remains a fixed standard throughout the territories, regardless of speed or location. Because of this, clocks and other time devices are calibrated for their area of operation - ticking faster or slower than 'normal' to keep pace with standard time.

Vessels traveling near the speed of light maintain two different clocks due to the effects of time dilation. Crewmen on board a ship traveling near the speed of light will perceive "outside" time as moving significantly faster than what they feel is normal. One clock measures relative time on board the ship, allowing the crew to operate on a regular schedule. The other measures objective time, changing pace to accomodate for changes in vessel speed.

With all clocks calibrated to keep pace with standard time, organizing meetings and rendezvous throughout the territories is made significantly easier.

Calendar Age vs. Biological Age
An individual who frequently travels at interstellar speeds - for example, an officer assigned to a warship - will eventually show physical signs of time dilation. Because they can spend the better part of a cycle traveling at relativistic speeds, they appear to age slower than a person who remains stationary on a planet. Their "biological age" becomes different than their "calendar age."

Veteran crewmen of interstellar vessels have been known to live twice as long as non-travelers -- relatively speaking, anyway!

Because of these discrepencies, a person's age is tracked by their calendar age rather than by their biological age on official records. An individual stated to be twenty cycles old on documents may physically be much younger, depending on how frequently they have traveled at relativistic speeds.