Guest Taikonaut Flyers in the Near Future?

While much commentary noise is being made about NASA Administrator Charles Bolden's trek to China this week to discuss space with Chinese space engineers and scientists, Dr. Morris Jones, an Australian space analyst, writer and lecturer, has a very interesting take in an article titled: "International Crews for Shenzhou."

Dr. Jones suggests that the Chinese may offer Guest Taikonaut flights to foreign nationals. He speculates that China may launch foreign taikonauts from Hong Kong, Macau, Tibet, Taiwan, Pakistan or, more likely, European.

It would be politically interesting if Bolden returns with an offer to fly an American NASA astronaut on a Shenzhou space mission in the next few years. If offered, America should accept it for a multitude of reasons.