Among the many reasons why Italians might know Houston, Texas, space is surely the number one answer. From the historic "Houston, we have a problem" to the NBA team the Houston Rockets, everything in the city talks about space. In particular, the Johnson Space Center is the true heart of NASA's missions, which in the near future will have a little bit of Italy in them. On June 9, NASA announced the crew for the Artemis III mission, made up of three American astronauts and the Italian Luca Parmitano. The Sicilian-born astronaut is no newcomer to space: he has already completed two missions on the ISS and was the first Italian to command it. Now he is back in training in Houston for the mission planned for the second half of 2027.

Even though Parmitano won't land on the Moon, he will be part of the history of space exploration. For this reason, on August 5, the Italian Cultural & Community Center, together with the Consulate General of Italy, hosted a special evening dedicated to Parmitano on the present and future of space travel. Italy's contribution, however, goes well beyond Parmitano: under the partnership between NASA and ESA, another Italian astronaut is expected to take part in future space missions.

Parmitano follows in the footsteps of many compatriots who trained at the Johnson Space Center, from Franco Malerba, the first Italian in space in 1992, to Umberto Guidoni, Roberto Vittori, Paolo Nespoli and Samantha Cristoforetti. Italian companies have also played a key role in NASA programs: Thales Alenia Space, with its Italian operations in Turin, built several pressurized modules of the International Space Station, including the Harmony and Tranquility nodes and the Cupola observation window, as well as the cargo modules that carried supplies to the station.