The moon isn't nearly as exciting as it used to be. Once we convinced ourselves that it was mostly just a big dead pile of rock (which didn't take long), interest and the funding that comes with it moved to Mars and beyond. The biggest thing that the moon has going for it is that it's relatively close to us: Spacecraft can get there in just a few days, and it takes only a couple of seconds for a signal to get there from here. The European Space Agency has been trying to encourage a hybrid approach to lunar usefulness, combining science with business (like mining and tourism) to help promote exploration in general. In partnership with the SpaceTech program at the Graz University of Technology in Austria, ESA is encouraging startups to develop ways of making money on the moon.