Now Germany Wants to Go to the Moon

Germany may target the moon by 2015, UPI
“Such a mission would cost at least $2.2 billion, but Hintze said the money would be well-invested even as Germany is hit by the worst recession in decades. A mission to the moon would secure German aerospace and robotics expertise, create high-technology jobs and improve the country’s scientific expertise, Hintze said. “The moon is of the highest importance when answering the question of how we guarantee the future of our own blue planet,” he said, adding that a joint mission with other European nations or the United States would also be an option. In what seems to be a more visionary idea, the state secretary said the mission could help set up a base on the moon to thwart threats from space, for example an asteroid on a collision course with Earth.”