BEIJING, March 9 (Xinhuanet) -- Famous for clear skies, sparkling water, simmering beaches, bikinis and mai tais, Hawaii is embarking on a journey into space exploration after an agreement signed this week with the California-based NASA Ames Research.

    Gov. Linda Lingle said the six-islands state wants to enhance it reputation as a place for serious investment, media said Friday.

    The agreement to "investigate opportunities for collaboration" on space projects isn't about either the state or NASA spending any money; it's more about changing Hawaii's reputation, Lingle said.

    "As you know we've had such great success promoting ourselves as the world's greatest place to take a vacation. (But) it has worked to our detriment when we talk about serious issues, serious business issues or technical or scientific issues and an agreement like this ... says to the world, 'This is a place to be taken very seriously,'" she said.

    Lingle said a change in the world's perception of the Aloha State is even more important because annual space exploration spending by private companies has reached 80 billion U.S. dollars compared to NASA's 16 billion dollars.

    Hawaii has long been known as one of the best places in the world for gazing into space through telescopes operated by astronomers from about a dozen countries atop Haleakela on Maui and Mauna Kea on the Big Island.

    Countries throughout the Asian Pacific region are developing space programs, putting Hawaii in an important region for the space industry, said S. Pete Worden, director of NASA Ames Research Center.

    Potential space-related industries include space tourism, communications, conducting biological research in space's zero gravity, tapping the moon for solar energy and installing lunar Internet cameras to recreate the experience on Earth of visiting the moon, he said.

    The agreement signed Tuesday was called a "memorandum of understanding" and will enable officials to begin discussing specific areas of collaboration with the state, he said.

    It calls for the state and NASA to develop programs supporting the space agency's plan to return humans to the moon and later travel to Mars, develop commercial space projects and boost research, education and jobs in the state.

    (Agencies)