No Date Or Agenda Has Been Set For Trip

In a question-and-answer period Tuesday before members of the US Senate Subcommittee on Science and Space, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin (right) made a somewhat shocking announcement: that he had accepted an invitation to visit China, and possibly begin talks on cooperating with the Chinese space program on future efforts.

The Associated Press reports Griffin's statement came in response to a blunt question from US Senator Bill Nelson of Florida. "Where do you see us going with China -- competitor or colleague?" Nelson asked.

"I think the United States always benefits from discussions and I do not see how it can hurt us," Griffin added.

NASA spokesman Dean Acosta said no date or agenda had been set for the visit.

Although it has only launched two manned spaceflights to date, China -- only the third country to send a man into orbit aboard its own spacecraft, after the US and Russia -- has clear aspirations on becoming a major power in space. Future flights of the Chinese space program include landing an unmanned probe on the moon by 2010, with possible manned flights by the end of 2020. An orbital space station may also be in the works.

As Senator Nelson's question indicates, such grand ambitions have caused many to consider China a space rival -- something that is not without precedent, Griffin said, noting that few people believed 20 years ago that the US and Russia would be cooperating on projects such as the International Space Station.

"The United States needs good competitors and it needs good partners and sometimes they can be the same," Griffin said.

FMI: www.nasa.gov