NASA tried and failed to obtain Bush administration approval of an overture to China for a cooperative U.S.-China space mission, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin tells Aviation Week & Space Technology.

The White House believes that a higher level of cooperation is too great a reward to China for its human rights and arms-trafficking violations of international law.

But the new Obama administration may resurrect the idea. The transition team of President-elect Barack Obama asked the agency for a detailed breakdown of its contacts with China and overall Asia-Pacific-region cooperative concepts in general.

The mission concept suggested by NASA was largely devoted to space science, but also involved flight operations on the space shuttle and International Space Station (ISS). It would not have involved the launch of a Chinese astronaut, however.

The concept included the large Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) that was flown on a shuttle mission 10 years ago as a solo payload and is likely to be launched for installation to the ISS on what could be the space shuttle's final mission in late 2010 or early 2011.

NASA's proposal was to allow the cooperation of Chinese scientists in the mission - since the original AMS carries nearly 1,900 kg. (4,188 lb.) of specialized magnets made in China by Chinese aerospace companies. "We ran that up the flagpole to the administration," Griffin says. The modernized version of the AMS for long-term ISS installation may not carry nearly as much Chinese-built hardware as the original design, though.

Sun Laiyan, who heads the China National Space Administration, also confirmed to Aviation Week & Space Technology last spring that some form of cooperation on the AMS had been discussed within Chinese government circles, too, in order to decide what to do if NASA raised it to the Chinese. Sun laughed and said it appeared his government's side had as much problem with the idea as did the U.S. government.

Kennedy Space Center managers are working up preliminary checkout flow documents for preparation of the AMS once it arrives from Europe for integration into the shuttle that will carry it to the ISS.

The AMS will be a powerful scientific tool for the study of mysterious and seemingly invisible cold dark matter that makes up the bulk of mass in the universe.

The U.S.-China cooperation could have been on multilateral, as opposed to bilateral, terms, says Mike O'Brien, who heads NASA's international affairs.

If the Obama administration approves some form of cooperation with China involving the AMS, then the final Kennedy Space Center launch of the shuttle would be a major international event in its own right - involving Chinese guests and possibly Chinese astronauts given access to journalists and other observers during the launch and landing.