NASA Administrator Bill Nelson is travelling to Italy, Vatican City, and Saudi Arabia to meet with key government and space officials in each country.
At a meeting with Italy’s Interministerial Committee for Space and Aerospace Policies, Nelson signed an agreement on behalf of NASA to conduct a preliminary design study on a potential lunar surface module that could provide habitat capabilities for astronauts on the Moon.
Additionally, Nelson has met with President Teodoro Valente, the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and other officials to discuss current and future collaboration, including the Artemis campaign to return to the Moon, partnership on the International Space Station, the exploration of Mars and Venus, and Earth science missions to study our home planet.
At the Vatican, Nelson discussed the ongoing collaboration between the US and the Holy See in space cooperation and the Vatican’s Observatory’s role in modern astronomical research.
“Most people don’t even know about the Vatican Observatory and its interest in space, which goes back to the time of Copernicus and Galileo and then the advancement of science ever since,” he told the Vatican News.
In Saudi Arabia, Nelson will meet with the Saudi Space Agency and other senior officials to discuss future collaboration and underscore the importance of civil space cooperation in the wider relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia. Nelson will also speak to students about the importance of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education and their roles as members of the Artemis Generation. The NASA Administrator will be in Saudi Arabia between May 12 and 16.
