Talks To Be "Informal"

Fresh from the success of his country's first manned orbital mission, the head of China's space agency will be in Washington next week for "informal" talks with his counterpart at NASA.

The meeting is the first time Laiyan Sun and Sean O'Keefe (right) have gotten together, but O'Keefe seemed to play down the importance of the meeting.

"It's something we have talked about for many months," O'Keefe said during a news conference earlier this week. "It is an opportunity to exchange views -- an opportunity to exchange thoughts... it's not a remarkable or unusual event."

China's first "taikonaut" orbited the Earth for 14 hours after its launch on October 15th, 2003.

It's not unusual to see Chinese delegations at the Johnson or Kennedy Space Centers. And President Bush did say he wanted to boost international cooperation as part of his new vision for space exploration.

Will the Chinese become NASA partners on future projects? O'Keefe said it's too early to tell. Beijing's record on human rights has been a stumbling block.

O'Keefe will continue his role as space ambassador later in the month, when he takes Russian Space Agency chief Anatoly Perminov on a tour of the facilities at KSC.

FMI: www.nasa.gov