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NASA has confirmed that it will work with its Chinese counterpart on lunar landing research, saying the cooperation would be "transparent, reciprocal and mutually beneficial".
In a statement released Friday, NASA announced that it had been talking with the Chinese Space Administration to explore the possibility of observing the signing of the plume. landing of the Chinese lunar satellite Chang'e 4, using the instruments of his own spaceship.
On January 3, the Chang'e 4 made a soft landing on the lunar background.
NASA's statement confirmed a similar announcement by Wu Yanhua, deputy commander-in-chief of China's lunar exploration program, according to which US space scientists had asked for permission from the United States. use his spaceship and relay satellite to help plan a future mission.
NASA said its scientists were exchanging, collecting and analyzing data with the Chinese team since the landing softly, and that its lunar orbiter would have to pass and take pictures of the landing site on the 31st. January.
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The cooperation comes in the context of heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing, with Chinese technology products under scrutiny in the United States and raising national security concerns. The scrutiny of Chinese products – from Huawei's telecom equipment to Hikvision surveillance cameras – and the pressure on Beijing to abandon its state-led "Made in China 2025" industrial strategy, have brought to light their growing technological rivalry.
The dispute was further complicated last month with the arrest in Canada of Sabrina Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's leader, at the request of the United States over alleged violations of sanctions imposed by Iran.
Although Nasa was banned from bilateral cooperation with China in 2011, it can do so with Congressional approval, and the statement said that collaboration on lunar landing research had already been authorized by the administration of President Donald Trump and Congress.
The US space agency stressed that cooperation would be "transparent". "All Nasa data associated with this activity is publicly available," the statement said.
Both parties also agreed that any important findings arising from the activity would be shared with the global research community at the meeting of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space at Vienna next month.
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Research is important for NASA's lunar surface robotic missions, which will begin next year. The US lunar return campaign – the first in 40 years – was presented by Trump, who also led the collaboration with international and commercial partners.
China, which has long been excluded from the international space station and many other joint research projects in space, sees it as a "great opportunity".
"This time, we have such a great opportunity … we are ready to work with them," Wu Weiren, chief scientist of the lunar program, told state-owned CCTV television on Tuesday.
He said that NASA scientists had made this request for cooperation at an international meeting held a few years ago, also asking China to extend the life of its Queqiao relay satellite and allow the Installation of a US beacon device on the Chang & # 4; stating help the United States to plan their own lunar landing strategy.
According to the official Chinese media, the United States is part of half a dozen countries that have collaborated with China on the lunar project. Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands and Saudi Arabia are also among its partners.
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