China, NASA share data in lunar mission

Cooperation is first since US law banned space exchanges in 2011

Space authorities in China and the United States have been discussing cooperation in lunar and deep-space exploration since the second half of last year, and the two sides exchanged information before the launch of the Chang'e 4 mission to the far side of the moon, the China National Space Administration said.

On Thursday afternoon the administration said that before the start of Chang'e 4 mission in December, Chinese scientists involved in the program and their counterparts from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter team had "close communication" to discuss the use of the LRO satellite to observe the landing of Chang'e 4 for scientific purposes.