Hopes are fading that the US will respond to a Chinese offer to exchange moon samples, with no word yet from Nasa on what it could swap.
Space officials in the two countries have been negotiating Chinese access to Apollo lunar samples in exchange for Chang’e-5 samples being loaned to US scientists. But while China is ready to share their moon rocks, the request for the American samples remains unanswered, people familiar with the matter said this week.
“Basically, the Americans want our lunar samples, but we can’t have theirs,” said two Chinese planetary geologists, one based in Beijing and the other in Hong Kong, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Nasa has not responded to the Post’s request for comment. It remains unclear how much longer the negotiations will last and whether the outcome could affect Beijing’s willingness to loan its samples.
Sample exchanges are common among space powers. In recent years, the US and Japan have traded asteroid samples, and last year China and Russia shared their moon samples just.
In 1978, the US offered China 1 gram (0.03 ounces) of Apollo 17 samples as a goodwill gesture on the eve of the establishment of formal diplomatic relations between the countries.
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