Sept. 27, 2006 — NASA got a first-hand look at China's secretive space program this
week, spawning enough goodwill for follow-up technical discussions,
the agency's administrator said Wednesday.
"We've agreed that it's a good idea to talk again," Griffin said in a
teleconference from Shanghai, the last stop on a five-day tour to
meet with top Chinese space officials.
"We need to look for things that we have in common, that we share and that we can do together.
That's what this trip was about," he said.
The first NASA administrator to visit China, Griffin said it was far too
early to talk about specific programs for cooperation. Accompanying him is a small
entourage including associate administrator Bill Gerstenmaier and
Shanghai-born veteran astronaut Shannon Lucid,
However, one starting point could be to share data collected during upcoming
robotic surveys of the moon.
China plans to launch its first moon probe next year. NASA, which has
begun designing spacecraft and missions to follow up its 1969-1972
Apollo moon program, will not be ready to fly its new lunar orbiter
until 2008.
"What China really wants is respect," said Joan Johnson-Freese, a
noted space policy expert who heads the Department of National
Security Studies at the Naval War College in Rhode Island. "They want
to know that we take what they're doing seriously, that we see they
can technically contribute and that we're serious about potentially
working with them."
Politics Present Obstacles
China has been pushing for U.S. recognition and collaboration for
years, but deep concerns about mission technology, weapons
proliferation, human rights and economic issues cast a cold pallor on
the prospect of partnerships.
Griffin has repeatedly referred to his trip as an introductory visit, a get-acquainted meeting.
Before leaving for China, a top NASA advisor said China would have to
be more open about its space program for the United States to be involved.
"I did make a point that with regard to cooperation on space programs
generally and human spaceflight programs in particular that the
greatest possible degree of transparency and openness is a
requirement, if for no reason more important than without
it, we stand a chance to kill people," Griffin said.
"If we are to conduct human spaceflight activities together we have
to have a great degree of trust, a great degree of sharing, a great
degree of openness," he said.
In 2003, China became just the third country in history to launch
people into space. That mission was followed last year by a second
flight and announcements of plans to build a space station and
eventually a lunar base.
