WASHINGTON — The head of NASA’s Earth science division, Michael Freilich, met with Chinese officials last month regarding potential coordination between the two countries on an upcoming Chinese mission, the agency said Aug. 4.
The meeting, first reported by the Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post but not initially confirmed by NASA, is the latest sign that the space agency is finding ways to work with China despite strict limitations placed by Congress on bilateral cooperation.
“As part of coordination discussions between NASA and the Chinese Academy of Sciences related to Earth science research, Dr. Freilich met with his counterparts at the Chinese Academy of Sciences on July 12, 2016, in Beijing,” NASA spokesman Steve Cole said Aug. 4.
The purpose of the meeting, Cole said, was “to discuss scientific data exchange and China’s plans for the launch of its new carbon monitoring mission, TanSat.” Cole did not disclose the outcome of the meeting, and said “no follow-up activities planned at this time.”
TanSat is a 500-kilogram satellite under development by the Chinese Academy of Sciences to measure carbon dioxide levels in the Earth’s atmosphere. The spacecraft is scheduled for launch late this year on a Long March 2D rocket.
The mission of TanSat is similar to NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2 (OCO-2) spacecraft, launched in 2014. However, TanSat may be able to measure carbon dioxide levels with “unprecedented precision,” according to the South China Morning Post report.
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