Canada's astronaut, space executive call for int'l cooperationwith China( Xinhua) 09:34, December 30, 2013 OTTAWA, Dec. 29 -- Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield is calling for cooperation withChina in space and wants it to be part of any international effort to return to the moon,Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) reported Sunday on its website.
"I think right now a lot of people see it as kind of crazy to cooperate with the Chinese, but Ithink it's the next logical step, " CBC quoted Hadfield as saying in a recent interview withthe Canadian Press.
China sent its first astronaut into space in 2003. Hadfield said China's ambitious spaceprogram aims to eventually put an astronaut on the moon.
He also cited the fact that China launched in 2011 an experimental space station, saying itwill be replaced with a more permanent one to be completed in 2020.
However, China was barred from participating in the current orbiting space station, largelybecause of U.S. objections over political differences.
Hadfield said a logical progression would be to include as many countries as possible in aninternational mission beyond Earth -- "hopefully including China and India and the othercountries that have launch capability and then progress to the next stepping stone, thenext natural waypoint out to space, which is the moon."
Hadfield, who became a Canadian astronaut in 1992, visited Mir in November 1995 on theU.S. Space Shuttle Atlantis, becoming the only Canadian to ever board the Russian spacestation.
"If you predicted in 1989 that I would fly on an American shuttle to go build a Russianspaceship, people would have said you were crazy," said Hadfield, who last March becamethe first Canadian to command the International Space Station.
"So I think looking forward, there's a great opportunity to include the Chinese in the worldspace program -- the international space program," Hadfield added.
Hadfield attracted worldwide attention with his dramatic photos of the Earth, his tweetsand his Space Oddity video during his space station visit which began when he blasted offin December 2012. He retired after returning to Earth in mid-May 2013 and is now anadjunct professor with the University of Waterloo in Ontario.
Iain Christie, executive vice-president of the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada,which represents the interests of more than 700 aerospace companies across Canada, saidChina's presence in space cannot be ignored.
"I think China is back where we were in North America 50 years ago," he said in theinterview. "I am hopeful that their enthusiasm for space becomes infectious to the rest ofus."
Christie said decisions will have to be made in the coming years.
"We're going to have to decide what to do about engaging with China in space -- whetherit's to be more collaborative or more competitive," he concluded.
（Editor：YanMeng、Yao Chun） Related reading
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