for cooperation on the European Space Agency (ESA) led BepiColombo mission to Mercury, and strengthening mutually beneficial cooperation between NASA and ASI in planetary exploration.

Bolden and Saggese also discussed NASA's plans for a new asteroid initiative, previously announced in Obama's fiscal year 2014 budget proposal. Saggese expressed the strong interest of Italy for the initiative and welcomed the opportunity to discuss potential ASI participation in a long-term exploration strategy.