Lunar Leap: Europe Is Reaching for a Moon Base by the 2030s

The moon, supporters say, can serve as a springboard to push the human exploration of the solar system, with Mars as the horizon goal. Calling the effort a "comeback to the moon," European space planners envision a series of human missions to the lunar vicinity starting in the early 2020s. Europe's lunar intentions were clearly evident at an international symposium this month to discuss plans for a return to the moon.