Presently, the plan is in the early stage of consideration. If implemented, the German goal is to launch a probe that would orbit around the Moon for a four-year mission. During that time, the spacecraft will produce color, three-dimensional images of the entire surface of the Moon. Specifically, these images would provide the German DLR with geological information with respect to the Moon’s magnetic field, radiation sources, possible water, and mineral composition.

The Germans hope to eventually land an unmanned probe on the surface of the Moon.

The German Center for Aviation and Space Flight (DLR) is often shortened to German Aerospace Center. It is contained within the German Space Agency,

The DLR (German abbreviation: Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt) is the German governmental research and development center for aviation and spaceflight. In the 1940s, Germany became the first country to launch an artificially manufactured object into space when it sent V-2 ballistic missiles to an altitude of about 190 kilometers (118 miles) above the surface of the Earth.

Space historians consider the German unmanned, internally guided V-2 ballistic missile program to be the forerunner to modern space exploration. Specifically, the program helped to establish the space race of the 1960s, which ultimately sent the United States/NASA Apollo 11 astronauts to the Moon’s surface for the first time.

The home Web page for DLR is: http://www.dlr.de/.

{moscomment}