On September 25th, 2020, Hon. Riccardo Fraccaro, Undersecretary of State at the Presidency of the Italian Council of Ministers and NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine signed a joint statement of intent for cooperation in the Artemis Program. This new chapter in NASA's lunar exploration has the task of not just going to the Moon, to create a long-term human presence on and around it, but also to prepare for ever-more-complex human missions to Mars. The United States and Italy have a long history of successful cooperation in science and exploration of outer space for peaceful uses. It all began in 1962, the year of the cooperation agreement that allowed two years later to launch the San Marco satellite from the USA, the first Italian object in orbit.