NASA Partners With Mexican Space Agency to Promote Science in Mexico

NASA will train Mexican university students in space-related fields, giving science and technology a boost in Mexico, the Mexican Space Agency, or AEM, said.

The AEM and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA, signed a cooperation agreement “to promote the development of science, technology and competitiveness in the sector,” the agency said.

The agreement was signed by AEM director Francisco Javier Mendieta, NASA associate administrator for education Leland Melvin and NASA chief Charles Bolden.

The agreement will help promote one of President Enrique Peña Nieto’s priorities, which “include putting Mexico in the society of knowledge, with the goal of advancing economic development and, with it, the well-being of the people,” Mendieta said.

“The winning Mexicans will conduct theoretical and laboratory research at NASA during three periods of the year (spring, summer and fall), along with a broad and diverse group of students from around the world,” the AEM said in a statement.

The AEM, created on July 31, 2010, is the public agency in charge of coordinating Mexico’s space policy, training specialists and developing the technology and infrastructure needed to expand the industry.

Published in Latino Daily News