NASA administrator Bill Nelson embarks on India and UAE visits

Both countries are signatories to the US-led Artemis Accords

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson travels to India from the US on November 27, 2023, after which he heads to the UAE.

During his visit to both countries, Nelson will meet with key government and space officials to enhance bilateral cooperation across various innovation and research-related areas, especially in human space exploration and Earth science.

According to NASA, Nelson’s visit to India fulfilled a commitment through the US and India initiative on critical and emerging technology spearheaded by US President Joe Biden.

NASA-ISRO collaboration

Nelson will visit several space industry locations in India, including the Bengaluru-based facilities where the NISAR (NASA ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) spacecraft, a joint Earth-observing mission between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), is undergoing testing and integration for launch in 2024.

Representing the first satellite mission between NASA and ISRO, NISAR is a unique Earth-observing instrument, the first in the Earth System Observatory, that will measure Earth’s changing ecosystems, dynamic surfaces, and ice masses, providing information about biomass, natural hazards, sea level rise, and groundwater, critical information to guide efforts related to climate change, hazard mitigation, agriculture, and more.

During his visit to the UAE, Nelson will participate in COP28 at Dubai Expo City from November 30 to December 12, 2023, highlighting NASA’s role as a global leader in providing decision-makers with critical earth science data.

STEM interactions

Students in India and the UAE will also have the opportunity to meet with Nelson to discuss science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education.

India and the UAE are signatories of the Artemis Accords – a non-binding multilateral arrangement between the US government and other world governments. In coordination with the US Department of State, NASA established the Artemis Accords in 2020 with seven other founding member nations.

The Artemis programme endeavours to return humans to the Moon by 2025, aiming to expand human spaceflight to Mars and beyond while reinforcing and implementing critical obligations in the 1967 Outer Space Treaty.

According to NASA, as of November 1, 2023, 32 countries have signed on to participate in the Artemis Accords programme:

1. Argentina
2. Australia 
3. Bahrain 
4. Brazil 
5. Bulgaria
6. Canada 
7. Columbia 
8. Czech Republic
9. Ecuador
10. France 
11. Germany
12. Iceland
13. India
14. Israel 
15. Italy 
16. Japan 
17. Luxemburg 
18. Mexico 
19. Netherlands
20. New Zealand 
21. Nigeria 
22. Poland 
23. Romania 
24. Rwanda 
25. Saudi Arabia 
26. Singapore 
27. South Korea
28. Spain
29. Ukraine 
30. United Arab Emirates 
31. United Kingdom 
32. United States of America

Featured image: NASA Administrator Bill Nelson gestures after Indian Ambassador to the United States Taranjit Sandhu signed the Artemis Accords on June 21, 2023, in Washington, DC. Image: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Last Updated on 11 months by Arnold Pinto