Bush Says No to Space Cooperation With China – Update

Bush Administration Nixed NASA’s U.S.-China, Aviation Week

“NASA tried and failed to obtain Bush administration approval of an overture to China for a cooperative U.S.-China space mission, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin tells Aviation Week & Space Technology. The White House believes that a higher level of cooperation is too great a reward to China for its human rights and arms-trafficking violations of international law. But the new Obama administration may resurrect the idea.”

NASA Response to Aviation Week and Space Technology Article

“Unfortunately, Aviation Week’s recent article of Dec. 21, 2008, entitled “Bush Administration Nixed NASA’s U.S.-China Cooperation Idea,” is inaccurate and misleading. As an initial matter, NASA has never asked the White House for a cooperative mission such as the one described in the article. The fact is that the White House has been very supportive of a deliberate and careful establishment of relations between NASA and the China National Space Administration (CNSA) over the past two years.”