JERUSALEM, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Israel and the United States have agreed to enhance cooperation in the space field, the Israel Space Agency (ISA) of the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology said on Tuesday.
As part of the partnership between the ISA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) under the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Israeli scientists will be able to propose research and projects that will be integrated into JPL's work program, the ISA said in a statement.
The selected proposals will be discussed at a special meeting in October at the JPL located in the city of Pasadena in the U.S. state of California, said the statement.
The main purpose of the laboratory is to build and operate robotic spacecraft for planetary exploration, in addition to carrying out missions of Earth orbit and astronomy.
The missions aim to investigate the surface and interior of Venus, study the ocean deep below the icy crust of Jupiter's moon Europa, bring Martian rock samples back to Earth in the search for past signs of microscopic life on Mars, and more.
The JPL also has the responsibility of managing the NASA Deep Space Network, the world's largest scientific telecommunications system, consisting of an array of giant radio antennas that supports mainly interplanetary spacecraft missions. ■
