MEXICO CITY (AP) — In a frequently tense relationship often defined by a shared border, the United States sent two officials with a different perspective to Mexico this week for a bit of space diplomacy.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and Deputy Administrator Pamela Melroy – both former astronauts --spent two hours chatting with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador Tuesday, took selfies with federal lawmakers and a day earlier spoke to an auditorium full of students and faculty from various Mexican universities.

“It’s a human thing to want to explore and to understand, so we go to space because it offers a unique vantage point that allows us to look down on the earth and study the earth as a planet,” Melroy said.

From that unique vantage point “not only do you not see borders, we see North America as one continental landmass,” a necessary perspective for tackling global problems like climate change.