"Space is a beacon for international collaboration and we are seeing that on the International Space Station," Melroy, one of only two women ever to have commanded a space shuttle mission, said in her remarks at Rice University in Texas.
Melroy's speech was part of a commemorative event to honor the 60th anniversary of President Kennedy's speech there on September 12, 1962 when he pledged to land a US astronaut on the Moon by the end of that decade.
"Space remains a place where we can continue to always have conversations with each other and work together towards a common goal even when things are really tense here on earth," Melroy said.
In his 1962 speech at Rice, Kennedy presented a vision of human global cooperation in space to foster peace on earth, Melroy added.