As Space film "The Martian" topped North American box office last weekend and is set to rule internationally in coming weeks, a thought-provoking plot at the end of the Hollywood blockbuster bespeaks potential of China-U.S. high-tech cooperation, especially in civil space.
The American science fiction film, adapted from a 2011 best-selling novel written by Andy Weir, tells a story that a brave astronaut who is incorrectly presumed dead and left behind in Mars during a manned mission to the planet manages to survive and sends signals to Earth that he is alive before being brought back home safely.
The daring rescue mission that succeeds in saving the stranded spaceman nearly 100 million kilometers away from Earth in the film was only possible thanks to joint efforts of NASA and China's space agency.
The plot, despite being only part of the science fiction's storyline, provides a glance at the potential of China-U.S. cooperation, especially in high-tech fields including civil space.
In late September, government officials from China and the U.S. shared space exploration plans and discussed possible exploration cooperation, Earth observation, space science, space weather and civilian navigational satellites at a cooperation dialogue held in Beijing.
The dialogue, the first of its kind between the two countries, was part of the outcome of the 2015 China-U.S. Strategic Economic Dialogue in June.
A statement from China's State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense said the dialogue marked the establishment of a dialogue mechanism for civil space cooperation between China and the U.S. It said the dialogue has created a new channel for mutual understanding and trust.
In the movie that premiered last month, Chinese actress Chen Shu plays a scientist of the Chinese space program that helps the "Martian" acted by American actor Matt Damon back to Earth. However, its debut in China has not yet been set.
"The Martian" received a strong "A" rating from first-night moviegoers on CinemaScore, which suggested that the film would hold up very well throughout the rest weeks of October. Critics gave it as high as 94 percent of approval rating on RottenTomatoes.
