VZCZCXYZ0016
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHRL #1425/01 2001634
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 191634Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8838
INFO RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 8911

UNCLAS BERLIN 001425 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR OES AND EUR/AGS 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TSPA TSPL TNGD ETTC ECON GM
SUBJECT: GERMANY'S AMBITION TO JOIN THE LUNAR-PROBING CLUB 
 
REF: OSC EUP20070312086006 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Conversations with German officials 
concerning Germany's plan to launch an unmanned lunar mission 
by 2013 indicate that, although enthusiasm is high in the 
German Aerospace Center (DLR), the government needs to be 
convinced of the value of this unilateral mission.  The 
chairman of the DLR executive Board discussed the planned 
lunar mission with NASA Deputy Administrator Shana Dale at 
the DLR Headquarters in Cologne, Germany, May 31.  The DLR 
chairman said even though the goal is for Germany to launch 
the mission as a national project, in the end, the DLR may 
seek partners to help share the costs.  In a separate meeting 
in Berlin, an official from the German Ministry of Economics 
and Technology told Embassy Global Affairs officer that the 
German Government -- and not the DLR -- will make the 
decisions concerning German lunar exploration.  The Economics 
Ministry tasked the DLR to produce a feasibility study by 
autumn 2007.  The DLR will present three options: send an 
orbiter to map the Moon, drop diagnostic/scientific equipment 
on the surface, or place a roving vehicle on the surface. 
The German Government will review the DLR feasibility study 
before making any decisions, probably in 2008.  One decision 
could be to include foreign partners, such as NASA, if the 
government decides to share the costs.  If the government 
approves a lunar mission, it will seek additional funding 
from parliament (the Bundestag) to cover the cost versus 
cutting other DLR programs to pay for it.  End summary. 
 
--------------------- 
The DLR Pitch to NASA 
--------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Global Affairs officer accompanied a NASA delegation 
headed by Deputy Administrator Shana Dale to meetings at the 
DLR Headquarters in Cologne May 31.  During the discussions, 
Deputy Administrator Dale asked DLR Chairman of the Executive 
Board Johann-Dietrich Woerner about a DLR-hosted workshop on 
lunar exploration held in Dresden, Germany, in November 2006. 
 Woerner and other DLR officials elaborated on German 
ambitions to launch by 2013 an unmanned lunar mission, as 
announced in March 2007 (see ref).  Their plan is to build a 
remote-sensing orbiter to fly 50 meters above the Moon's 
surface to map the topography, scan for minerals, analyze the 
gravitational field, and search for anomalies.  The DLR 
officials said that, although the Moon has been visited and 
probed, very little is actually known about most of its 
surface and practically nothing about what is below the 
surface.  They expect their mission to provide data necessary 
for future manned missions and even habitation.  Nonetheless, 
they did not expect Germany to send any astronauts to the 
Moon. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The DLR officials said their agency cannot pay for 
the lunar mission from its existing budget and would need 
supplementary funding from parliament.  Another option is to 
seek foreign partners, but Woerner emphasized that the DLR's 
preference is to undertake the mission as a national venture. 
 The DLR would seek outside help only if Germany could not 
produce all the necessary elements for the mission on its 
own.  Potential cooperation with NASA might be in the use of 
laser communications.  The DLR will consult with NASA on this 
as necessary.  In the meantime, the DLR is preparing its 
feasibility study, due in September 2007, to analyze national 
capabilities and potential costs.  The forecast is that a 
mission could cost 300-400 million euros and be launched by 
¶2013.  The government will review the feasibility study and 
make decisions in 2008.  The DLR officials hope that 
parliament would provide the extra funding for the lunar 
mission instead of forcing the DLR to pay for it by cutting 
other programs. 
 
¶4. (SBU) The DLR officials listed some of the technologies 
for the mission which Germany can produce on its own: 
robotics, laser communications, radar, hyperspectrography, 
gravity sensors, and stereo photography.  As part of the 
feasibility study, the DLR is funding some studies among 
German industries for an orbiter and small landing vehicles. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
The German Government May Have Different Ideas 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶5. (SBU) In a separate meeting in Berlin, Global Affairs 
officer talked to Wolfgang Schneider, of the German Ministry 
of Economics and Technology's Space Exploration: Programs and 
Applications Division, concerning the planned lunar mission. 
Schneider said that ultimately the decision will be 
political, based partly on economics -- the costs -- as well 
as science.  Schneider also pointed out that the Ministry of 
Economics is the policy maker for space-related activities. 
The Ministry will present to the Cabinet its decisions 
resulting from the feasibility study.  If the Cabinet 
approves the decisions, it will forward them to parliament 
for a vote. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Schneider said each of the three options under study 
has a different projected cost.  The first option of sending 
an orbiter to the Moon for remote sensing would provide the 
most substantial benefits for future lunar missions, but 
would also cost the most.  As Schneider noted, only a small 
percentage of the Moon has been accurately mapped, so a 
comprehensive survey of the surface would assist future 
missions.  In addition, remote sensing would provide 
information on the mineral content of the Moon's surface. 
The orbiter would carry optical equipment, radars, and 
hyperspectral scanners.  A second, less expensive, option 
would be to drop equipment on the Moon.  The equipment could 
be a radio telescope, which although an old idea is still 
useful, or a deep-digging probe.  A radio telescope could be 
placed on the dark side of the Moon and thus be shielded from 
the Earth's radiation.  A deep-digging probe could extend 
well below the surface to provide data on what is well 
beneath it.  The third option, also less expensive than the 
first, would be to send some type of roving vehicle to the 
surface to conduct remote research. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Schneider mentioned that, due to costs, Germany may 
decide to invite foreign partners, such as NASA, to join the 
mission.  At a minimum, Germany would need to rely on a 
foreign partner for launch services, since it produces no 
large boosters.  In answer to Emboff's question, Schneider 
said the Arianne rocket is capable of delivering a payload to 
the Moon, should Germany choose a European booster. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Schneider ended with some cautionary notes.  Even 
though the DLR is investigating the three options, this is no 
guarantee that the German Government will decide to pursue a 
unilateral mission, he said.  Furthermore, even if the 
government decides to proceed with the mission, the 
parliamentary support for funding is not assured.  Lastly, 
whatever enthusiasm may be generated in public and parliament 
for a German unmanned lunar mission probably will not 
translate into German participation in a manned mission to 
the Moon, Scheider observed. 
 
¶9. (U) This cable was coordinated with NASA subsequent to the 
delegation's departure. 
TIMKEN JR