China’s Space Agency Set To Cooperate With NASA

The Chinese Government is ready to cooperate with the United States in the space field on the basis of equality and mutual respect, Vice Administrator of the China National Space Administration (CNSA) Wu Yanhua said yesterday.
Wu added that Beijing was ready to share samples of lunar soil collected by the Chang’e 5 spacecraft.
Earlier in the day, the Xinhua news agency reported that the return capsule of China’s Chang’e 5 spacecraft had landed in the northern part of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, bringing lunar samples to the Earth.
China has, thus, become the third country – following the U.S. and the Soviet Union – that successfully conducted such a mission.
“The Chinese government is ready to share lunar soil samples with colleagues from foreign organisations and scientists, including relevant data for scientific research,’’ Wu said.
At the same time, the vice administrator recalled that back in 2011, the U.S. enacted a law that restricts NASA’s and other U.S. government agencies’ cooperation with the CNSA.
“Whether we will be able to cooperate depends on the U.S. government’s policy.
“We are ready to develop friendly cooperation with the U.S., both with state agencies and companies, on the basis of equality and mutual respect,” Wu added.
On November 24, the Chang’e 5 lunar sample-return mission was successfully launched from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Centre in Wenchang, in China’s Hainan island province, using the Chinese heavy-lift launch vehicle Chang Zheng 5 (Long March 5).
The spacecraft landed on the moon on December 1st