"NASA wishes China success on the launch of Shenzhou-7 and the safe return of its crew," a spokesman for the U.S. space agency told Xinhua on the eve of the mission.

美国航天局的一位发言人在神舟七号发射前夕对新华社表示，“美国宇航局衷心祝愿中国成功发射神舟七号，全员安全返回。”

China has announced that the Shenzhou-7 spacecraft will lift off on Thursday night. This will be the third Chinese manned space mission, but the first time Chinese astronauts perform a spacewalk.

中国已经宣布神舟七号飞船将于周四晚上发射。这是中国第三次载人航天，也是中国宇航员首次进行太空行走。

"Spacewalks are very important to space exploration," said Michael Braukus, the public affair officer at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C. "Spacewalks will probably be necessary in the repair and assembly of future exploration spacecraft."

Michael Braukus是位于美国华盛顿特区的美国宇航局总部的公共事务官员，他说“太空行走对太空探索来说是非常重要的，将来修理装备探测飞船需要太空行走的可能性非常大。”

He said NASA's Apollo missions demonstrated the scientific importance of leaving the spacecraft and venturing outside into the moon's hostile environment to collect samples and perform science experiments.

他说美国宇航局的阿波罗任务展示了离开飞船、冒险到月球的恶劣环境中收集样本、做实验在科学上的重要性。

When asked about the prospect of cooperation between U.S. and China in the field of space exploration, the spokesman told Xinhua that during the NASA Administrator -- Michael Griffin's visit to China in Sept. 2006, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) and NASA agreed to form working groups for discussion in Earth science and space science.

被问及美中两国在太空探索领域合作的前景时，这位发言人对新华社说，早在美国宇航局局长Michael Griffin于2006年九月访华期间，中国国家航天局和美国宇航局就达成一致，组建工作组共同探讨地球科学和太空科学。

"U.S. and China meet for initial discussions and exchange information on subjects of mutual scientific interest, centered on complementary measurements and data exchanges on missions that are already being pursued," Braukus said. And the recent meetings took place on June 30 and July 1, 2008.

Braukus说，“美国和中国会为了重大论题举行会晤，在有共同科学兴趣的项目上交换信息，主要围绕已经实行的项目的互补测试和数据交换。”最近的一次会晤是在2008年6月30号和7月1号。

NASA's space exploration missions include expansion of human knowledge of our planet and phenomena in space. "International dialogues can increase this knowledge," said Braukus. "China's space program offers potential opportunities for cooperation in Earth and space science."

Braukus还说，“美国宇航局的空间探索任务包括扩展人类对我们这个星球和太空现象的认知，国际对话可以增强这种认知，中国的太空项目为两国在地球和太空科学中的合作提供了潜在的机会。”