NASA researchers get [NASA] permission to apply for China's moon samples (01.12.23)

"NASA has certified its intent to Congress to allow NASA-funded researchers to apply to the China National Space Administration for access to lunar samples returned to Earth on the Chang'e-5 mission and made available recently to the international scientific community for research purposes," the email read. The move opens the rare possibility of cooperation between China and NASA-funded entities and researchers. It also comes despite NASA Administrator Bill Nelson's strong rhetoric towards China and his stated support for maintaining ongoing restrictions on collaboration.

OFAC "overcapacity" warning

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The mission collected 1,731 grams of material from a geologically young area of Oceanus Procellarum, using a scoop and a drill. The country said it would make samples available internationally, after first allowing Chinese researchers and institutions access. The samples have generated a range of science papers relating to the history and evolution of the moon, its composition and more. CNSA announced that internationally-led groups could apply for samples in August this year, more than 2.5 years after Chang'e-5 landed.

"The Chang'e 5 samples originate from regions of the Moon not yet sampled by NASA and are expected to provide valuable new scientific insight on the geological history of the Moon, which could provide new understanding of the Earth-Moon system and potentially inform NASA's future lunar exploration plans," the NASA email read.

NASA CNSA opens door to cooperation with China on Moon rock research (07.12.23)

The [US] ban on bilateral cooperation is spelled out in a provision first added to NASA's annual appropriations bill by former Representative Frank Wolf (R-VA) in 2011. The so-called Wolf amendment has been included in the agency's funding bill every year since. Wolf had two objectives in crafting the amendment: stopping leaks of space-related technology and expertise to China < wipes tears > and pushing the country to improve its human rights  record.

Application portal
The CNSA application portal opened on Nov. 6, and does not close until Dec 22. NASA researchers only gained approval to submit applications on Nov. 29, NASA spokesperson Roxana Bardan, told Space.com.

But, "The Wolf amendment has neither discouraged Chinese space ambitions nor altered China's behavior on human rights," Makena Young, an aerospace security expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies [CSIS], a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, wrote in a 2019 review of the impact of the amendment. The restrictions "only serve to stifle mutually beneficial cooperation for science and exploration," she added, calling for the amendment to be revised.

NASA delays astronaut moon landing to 2026 amid spacecraft 'challenges' (09.01.24)
"NASA administrator Bill Nelson told reporters in a news conference."

The moon is getting its own time zone, White House memo reveals, 4 Apr primates

according to a memo sent to NASA by the U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).

NASA will, in coordination with the Departments of Commerce, Defense, State, and Transportation, provide a finalized strategy to the Executive Office of the President to implement lunar timing standardization no later than December 31, 2026. NASA will also include consideration of Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC), as described in this memorandum, as part of its annual Moon-to-Mars Architecture Concept Review cycle no later than December 31, 2024.

Lunar time will run differently from time zones on Earth. Because there's less gravity on the moon, time there moves faster than on our planet—running ahead by 58.7 microseconds every day. This seemingly small difference is enough to throw off the precise maneuvers of lunar spacecraft and satellites.

China to hear pitches from NASA scientist, other researchers, to study Chang'e 5 lunar samples, 10 Apr elevator cage match

China's space agency has invited 10 scientists from the US, Europe, and Asia to pitch their plans in person to study lunar samples brought back to Earth by China's Chang'e 5 moon mission. ... Each applicant will have 15 minutes to make a presentation and take questions from the review committee, [China National Space Administration] CNSA said on its website on Tuesday, adding that online participation was also acceptable.