SCIENTISTS' VISION
There are more and more organizations and people who do wish to broaden relations with China in civil and commercial projects.
"There has been no official cooperation in the space field between China and the U.S. for a long time, so I hope this project enables us to explore cooperation methods between the two space powers," Deng said.
Leroy Chiao, a former Chinese-American NASA astronaut and ISS commander, also highlighted the significance of the Chinese project. "I think this is a good step forward," Chiao said, "I have always believed that cooperation is the best way forward for both the United States and China, particularly using civil space exploration as an avenue."
"I believe that in the areas of civil and commercial there can be more cooperation, just as there is on the earth," Manber said.
The CEO does not believe in cooperation "for the sake of symbolism." "Let's figure out ways to work together where we both gain while taking into account all parties legitimate technology, IP and security concerns, just was we do in commercial partnerships in mature markets."
In Fact, given that the rest of the world is working with China in space, the Wolf amendment is becoming the lone holdout.
"We have to open this door, and we will do our part for the state of Florida to make space accessible to all international clients, researchers and institutes," Gannon said.
GOOD REPUTATION
Chinese scientists and researchers "have proved themselves to be true scientists," said Gannon, who hopes in the future more and more people can take advantage of the unique environment of the ISS.
The Beijing Institute of Technology's School of Life Science often publishes its results in Western scientific journals and interacts with the international research communities and multiple U.S. universities.
"It (the university) is a good example. It's really an important research and the team have done a great job," Mary Murphy, senior internal payloads manager of NanoRacks, told Xinhua, calling the cooperation between the two sides "a new model that can be followed in the future."
Gannon echoed the idea, saying the cooperation testifies to a growing trend of commercial space cooperation, undertaken not by government bodies but by universities and commercial partnerships. "(The experiment) seeks answers using micro gravity as a method to discover the truth of science and indeed further mankind's efforts in research."
