NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, Italian Space Agency (ASI) President Giorgio Saccoccia, and U.S. embassy leadership will speak with astronauts aboard the International Space Station. ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher will join the event virtually. The Earth-to-space call will air live at 1:40 p.m. CET / 7:40 a.m. ET Friday, June 17, on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.

 ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti and NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines, and Jessica Watkins will speak with the group of international leaders about the benefits of the International Space Station to life on Earth, research the astronauts are conducting in the orbiting laboratory, and NASA and ESA’s human exploration plans on the Moon and Mars.

 Nelson and Melroy will be in Italy to meet with Italian government and ASI leadership regarding Italy’s bilateral and ESA-related contributions to NASA’s Artemis program and space and Earth science missions.