Cosmic Penguin

I came across on Chinese forums this old January 2019 article on the official People's Daily, which quoted an article on Wenweipo - one of the most PRC-aligned newspapers in my very city - on 4 Jan. 2019 quoting then CLEP Chief Engineer Wu Weiren: https://www.guancha.cn/industry-science/2019_01_04_485685.shtml … (2/8)

He claimed that back when it was announced Chang'e 2 would fly-by the NEO 4179 Toutatis in 2012, "the US reacted uncooperatively by immediately shutting down their small-body orbit database in response" (@NASAJPL's Solar System Dynamics?). (3/8)

He claimed that it took their own observatories' observations to track the asteroid's orbit to allow its successful fly-by in Dec. 2012. In response he said that the Chinese "has refused to give out orbital data & landing time of Chang'e 3 before it landed to NASA..." (4/8)

"...which repeatedly requested such info to the Chinese Academy of Sciences citing potential effects on the then ongoing LADEE mission. They also then just refused to give out similar data for Chang'e 4 just before it landed (a day before that article was out)." (5/8)

The article also reported on Chinese scientists got their US entry visas refused, which we all know of. To be honest, I'm really angered that such ridiculous claims that NASA would shutdown their SB DB for spoiling their mission came out from their lunar program's chief. (6/8)

I don't know if NASA/JPL filed an official response back then, but w/ babbles on Chang'e 5 lunar samples still on, this matter is only going to get worse. We most advocate return to relatively normal US-China space exploration cooperation, but such things still bears mind. (7/8)