NASA boss to land in China

08:09, October 15, 2010      
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The graphics shows the launch procedures of China's second unmanned lunar probe, Chang'e II, which blasted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center (XSLC) in southwest China's Sichuan Province on October 1, 2010. Photo:Xinhua
The head of NASA will arrive in China Saturday for unprecedented visits to the country's space program facilities, as part of a five-day trip aimed at tapping potential for bilateral cooperation.
According to the US-based Spaceflight Now, seven high-profile officials of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will accompany Charles Bolden on the trip. But a detailed agenda has not yet been announced.
Shunning opposition from some US lawmakers, Bolden is making the trip in response to an agreement reached in November between Chinese President Hu Jintao and US President Barack Obama, who issued a joint communiqué calling for talks on human spaceflight cooperation.
Lawmakers including Frank Wolf and John Culberson, both Republicans, warned that space-exploration cooperation with China has not been approved by Congress and that bills authorizing NASA research have placed strict limitations on such cooperation.
In response, Bolden said in a letter that his visit is "intended to be introductory in nature and will not include consideration of any specific proposals for human space-flight cooperation or new cooperation in any other areas of NASA's activities."
"I have also been invited to conduct site visits to Chinese human spaceflight facilities that were not offered to my predecessors," Bolden explained in the letter.
"Although it has been impossible for the two sides to work out any substantive agree-ments, the visit could pave the way for possible future cooperation," Hu Yumin, a senior researcher at the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association, told the Global Times Thursday.
"The US, a leader in space technology, possibly conceives cooperation with China as helpful to addressing obstacles in future US space projects," he said.
"Many scientists in both countries have longed for cooperation between China and the US. Bolden's trip will not only cement bilateral cooperation but also increase trust between the two countries," he added.
In an exclusive interview with the Global Times in January, Bolden said that, as a former astronaut, he advocated international cooperation in space that could benefit humankind and that he preferred collaboration over conflict with China.
The visit comes after Obama signed into law Monday the 2010 NASA Authorization Act, which adds one extra space shuttle flight before the fleet is retired next year, and extends the life of the International Space Station (ISS) through at least 2020.
It also comes two weeks after China's successful launch of a second lunar probe, the Chang'e-2, part of Beijing's efforts to send men to the moon around 2020.
By Song Shengxia, Global Times
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