German Official Calls for Moon Mission Sending a spacecraft to the moon might seem like an ambitious goal for Germany. But a senior government minister has called for just such a mission, arguing that it would create much-needed jobs.
Germany Proposes Unmanned Moon Landing for 2015 Germany should try to launch an unmanned mission to the moon by around 2015, the government official in charge of aerospace matters said. Economy Ministry State Secretary Peter Hintze said a German moon landing could be feasible "within the next decade, around 2015," and urged cooperation with other European countries and the United States. The enterprise would likely cost around 1.5 billion euros ($2.12 billion) over five years and could encourage industry to develop new technologies, said Hintze, a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats (CDU).