IB 

Union Calendar No. 108

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3070

[Report No. 109–173] 

To reauthorize the human space flight, aeronautics, and science programs 

of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 27, 2005

Mr. CALVERT (for himself and Mr. BOEHLERT) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Science 

JULY 18, 2005

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on June 27, 2005] 

A BILL

To reauthorize the human space flight, aeronautics, and 

science programs of the National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
2

•HR 3070 RH 

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Na3 tional Aeronautics and Space Administration Authoriza4 tion Act of 2005’’. 

5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

6 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

Sec. 3. Definitions. 

TITLE I—GENERAL PRINCIPLES AND REPORTS 

Sec. 101. Responsibilities, policies, and plans. 

Sec. 102. Reports. 

Sec. 103. Baselines and cost controls. 

Sec. 104. Prize authority. 

Sec. 105. Foreign launch vehicles. 

Sec. 106. Safety management. 

Sec. 107. Lessons learned and best practices. 

Sec. 108. Commercialization plan. 

Sec. 109. Study on the feasibility of use of ground source heat pumps. 

TITLE II—AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS 

Sec. 201. Structure of budgetary accounts. 

Sec. 202. Fiscal year 2006. 

Sec. 203. Fiscal year 2007. 

Sec. 204. ISS research. 

Sec. 205. Test facilities. 

Sec. 206. Proportionality. 

Sec. 207. Limitations on authority. 

Sec. 208. Notice of reprogramming. 

Sec. 209. Cost overruns. 

Sec. 210. Official representational fund. 

Sec. 211. International Space Station cost cap. 

TITLE III—SCIENCE 

Subtitle A—General Provisions 

Sec. 301. Performance assessments. 

Sec. 302. Status report on Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission. 

Sec. 303. Independent assessment of Landsat-NPOESS integrated mission. 

Sec. 304. Assessment of science mission extensions. 

Sec. 305. Microgravity research. 

Sec. 306. Coordination with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 
3

•HR 3070 RH 

Subtitle B—Remote Sensing 

Sec. 311. Definitions. 

Sec. 312. Pilot projects to encourage public sector applications. 

Sec. 313. Program evaluation. 

Sec. 314. Data availability. 

Sec. 315. Education. 

Subtitle C—George E. Brown, Jr. Near-Earth Object Survey 

Sec. 321. George E. Brown, Jr. Near-Earth Object Survey. 

TITLE IV—AERONAUTICS 

Sec. 401. Definition. 

Subtitle A—National Policy for Aeronautics Research and Development 

Sec. 411. Policy. 

Subtitle B—NASA Aeronautics Breakthrough Research Initiatives 

Sec. 421. Environmental aircraft research and development initiative. 

Sec. 422. Civil supersonic transport research and development initiative. 

Sec. 423. Rotorcraft and other runway-independent air vehicles research and development initiative. 

Subtitle C—Other NASA Aeronautics Research and Development Activities 

Sec. 431. Fundamental research and technology base program. 

Sec. 432. Airspace systems research. 

Sec. 433. Aviation safety and security research. 

Sec. 434. Zero-emissions aircraft research. 

Sec. 435. Mars aircraft research. 

Sec. 436. Hypersonics research. 

Sec. 437. NASA aeronautics scholarships. 

Sec. 438. Aviation weather research. 

Sec. 439. Assessment of wake turbulence research and development program. 

Sec. 440. University-based centers for research on aviation training. 

TITLE V—HUMAN SPACE FLIGHT 

Sec. 501. International Space Station completion. 

Sec. 502. Human exploration priorities. 

Sec. 503. GAO assessment. 

TITLE VI—OTHER PROGRAM AREAS 

Subtitle A—Space and Flight Support 

Sec. 601. Orbital debris. 

Sec. 602. Secondary payload capability. 

Subtitle B—Education 

Sec. 611. Institutions in NASA’s minority institutions program. 

Sec. 612. Program to expand distance learning in rural underserved areas. 

Sec. 613. Charles ‘‘Pete’’ Conrad Astronomy Awards. 

Sec. 614. Review of education programs. 
4

•HR 3070 RH 

Sec. 615. Equal access to NASA’s education programs. 

TITLE VII—MISCELLANEOUS AMENDMENTS 

Sec. 701. Retrocession of jurisdiction. 

Sec. 702. Extension of indemnification. 

Sec. 703. NASA scholarships. 

Sec. 704. Independent cost analysis. 

Sec. 705. Limitations on off-shore performance of contracts for the procurement 

of goods and services. 

TITLE VIII—INDEPENDENT COMMISSIONS 

Sec. 801. Definitions. 

Subtitle A—International Space Station Independent Safety Commission 

Sec. 811. Establishment of Commission. 

Sec. 812. Tasks of the Commission. 

Sec. 813. Sunset. 

Subtitle B—Human Space Flight Independent Investigation Commission 

Sec. 821. Establishment of Commission. 

Sec. 822. Tasks of the Commission. 

Subtitle C—Organization and Operation of Commissions 

Sec. 831. Composition of Commissions. 

Sec. 832. Powers of Commission. 

Sec. 833. Public meetings, information, and hearings. 

Sec. 834. Staff of Commission. 

Sec. 835. Compensation and travel expenses. 

Sec. 836. Security clearances for Commission members and staff. 

Sec. 837. Reporting requirements and termination.

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 The Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) On January 14, 2004, the President unveiled 

4 the Vision for Space Exploration to guide United 

5 States policy on human space exploration. 

6 (2) The President’s vision of returning humans 

7 to the Moon and working toward a sustainable 

8 human presence there and then venturing further into 

9 the solar system provides a sustainable rationale for 

10 the United States human space flight program. 
5

•HR 3070 RH 

1 (3) As we enter the Second Space Age, the Na2 tional Aeronautics and Space Administration should 

3 continue to support robust programs in space science, 

4 aeronautics, and earth science as it moves forward 

5 with plans to send Americans to the Moon, Mars, and 

6 worlds beyond. 

7 (4) The National Aeronautics and Space Admin8 istration’s programs can advance the frontiers of 

9 science, expanding understanding of our planet and 

10 of the universe, and contribute to American pros11 perity. 

12 (5) The United States should honor its inter13 national commitments to the International Space 

14 Station program. 

15 (6) The United States must remain the leader in 

16 aeronautics and aviation. Any erosion of this pre17 eminence is not in the Nation’s economic or security 

18 interests. Past Federal investments in aeronautics re19 search and development have benefited the economy 

20 and national security of the United States and im21 proved the quality of life of its citizens. 

22 (7) Long-term progress in aeronautics and space 

23 requires continued Federal investment in funda24 mental research, test facilities, and maintenance of a 

25 skilled civil service workforce at NASA’s Centers. 
6

•HR 3070 RH 

1 (8) An important part of NASA’s mission is 

2 education and outreach. 

3 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this Act: 

5 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis6 trator’’ means the Administrator of the National Aer7 onautics and Space Administration. 

8 (2) ISS.—The term ‘‘ISS’’ means the Inter9 national Space Station. 

10 (3) NASA.—The term ‘‘NASA’’ means the Na11 tional Aeronautics and Space Administration. 

12 TITLE I—GENERAL PRINCIPLES 

13 AND REPORTS 

14 SEC. 101. RESPONSIBILITIES, POLICIES, AND PLANS. 

15 (a) GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES.—

16 (1) PROGRAMS.—The Administrator shall ensure 

17 that NASA carries out a balanced set of programs 

18 that shall include, at a minimum, programs in—

19 (A) human space flight, in accordance with 

20 subsection (b); 

21 (B) aeronautics research and development; 

22 and 

23 (C) scientific research, which shall include, 

24 at a minimum—
7

•HR 3070 RH 

1 (i) robotic missions to study planets, 

2 and to deepen understanding of astronomy, 

3 astrophysics, and other areas of science that 

4 can be productively studied from space; 

5 (ii) earth science research and research 

6 on the Sun-Earth connection through the 

7 development and operation of research sat8 ellites and other means; 

9 (iii) support of university research in 

10 space science and earth science; and 

11 (iv) research on microgravity, includ12 ing research that is not directly related to 

13 human exploration. 

14 (2) CONSULTATION AND COORDINATION.—In car15 rying out the programs of NASA, the Administrator 

16 shall—

17 (A) consult and coordinate to the extent ap18 propriate with other relevant Federal agencies, 

19 including through the National Science and 

20 Technology Council; 

21 (B) work closely with the private sector, in22 cluding by—

23 (i) encouraging the work of entre24 preneurs who are seeking to develop new 

25 means to launch satellites, crew, or cargo; 
8

•HR 3070 RH 

1 (ii) contracting with the private sector 

2 for crew and cargo services to the extent 

3 practicable; and 

4 (iii) using commercially available 

5 products (including software) and services 

6 to the extent practicable to support all 

7 NASA activities; and 

8 (C) involve other nations to the extent ap9 propriate. 

10 (b) VISION FOR SPACE EXPLORATION.—The Adminis11 trator shall manage human space flight programs to strive 

12 to achieve the following goals: 

13 (1) Returning Americans to the Moon no later 

14 than 2020. 

15 (2) Launching the Crew Exploration Vehicle as 

16 close to 2010 as possible. 

17 (3) Increasing knowledge of the impacts of long 

18 duration stays in space on the human body using the 

19 most appropriate facilities available. 

20 (4) Enabling humans to land on and return 

21 from Mars and other destinations on a timetable that 

22 is technically and fiscally possible. 

23 (c) AERONAUTICS.—

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President of the United 

25 States, through the Administrator, and in consulta-
9

•HR 3070 RH 

1 tion with other Federal agencies, shall develop a na2 tional aeronautics policy to guide the aeronautics 

3 programs of NASA through 2020. 

4 (2) CONTENT.—At a minimum, the national aer5 onautics policy shall describe for NASA—

6 (A) the priority areas of research for aero7 nautics through fiscal year 2011; 

8 (B) the basis on which and the process by 

9 which priorities for ensuing fiscal years will be 

10 selected; 

11 (C) the facilities and personnel needed to 

12 carry out the aeronautics program through fiscal 

13 year 2011; and 

14 (D) the budget assumptions on which the 

15 national aeronautics policy is based, which for 

16 fiscal years 2006 and 2007 shall be the author17 ized level for aeronautics provided in title II of 

18 this Act. 

19 (3) CONSIDERATIONS.—In developing the na20 tional aeronautics policy, the President shall consider 

21 the following issues, which shall be discussed in the 

22 transmittal under paragraph (5): 

23 (A) The extent to which NASA should focus 

24 on long-term, high-risk research or more incre25 mental research, and the expected impact on the 
10

•HR 3070 RH 

1 United States aircraft and airline industries of 

2 that decision. 

3 (B) The extent to which NASA should ad4 dress military and commercial needs. 

5 (C) How NASA will coordinate its aero6 nautics program with other Federal agencies. 

7 (D) The extent to which NASA will fund 

8 university research, and the expected impact of 

9 that funding on the supply of United States 

10 workers for the aeronautics industry. 

11 (E) The extent to which the priority areas 

12 of research listed pursuant to paragraph (2)(A) 

13 should include the activities authorized by title 

14 IV of this Act, the discussion of which shall in15 clude a priority ranking of all of the activities 

16 authorized in title IV and an explanation for 

17 that ranking. 

18 (4) CONSULTATION.—In the development of the 

19 national aeronautics policy, the Administrator shall 

20 consult widely with academic and industry experts 

21 and with other Federal agencies. The Administrator 

22 may enter into an arrangement with the National 

23 Academy of Sciences to help develop the national aer24 onautics policy. 
11

•HR 3070 RH 

1 (5) SCHEDULE.—The Administrator shall trans2 mit the national aeronautics policy to the Committee 

3 on Appropriations and the Committee on Science of 

4 the House of Representatives, and to the Committee 

5 on Appropriations and the Committee on Commerce, 

6 Science, and Transportation of the Senate, not later 

7 than the date on which the President submits the pro8 posed budget for the Federal Government for fiscal 

9 year 2007 to the Congress. The Administrator shall 

10 make available to those committees any study done by 

11 a nongovernmental entity that was used in the devel12 opment of the national aeronautics policy. 

13 (d) SCIENCE.—

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall de15 velop a policy to guide the science programs of NASA 

16 through 2016. 

17 (2) CONTENT.—At a minimum, the policy shall 

18 describe—

19 (A) the missions NASA will initiate, design, 

20 develop, launch, or operate in space science and 

21 earth science through fiscal year 2016, including 

22 launch dates; 

23 (B) a priority ranking of all of the missions 

24 listed under subparagraph (A), and the rationale 

25 for the ranking; 
12

•HR 3070 RH 

1 (C) the budget assumptions on which the 

2 policy is based, which for fiscal years 2006 and 

3 2007 shall be consistent with the authorizations 

4 provided in title II of this Act; and 

5 (D) the facilities and personnel needed to 

6 carry out the policy through fiscal year 2016. 

7 (3) CONSIDERATIONS.—In developing the science 

8 policy under this subsection, the Administrator shall 

9 consider the following issues, which shall be discussed 

10 in the transmittal under paragraph (6): 

11 (A) What the most important scientific 

12 questions in space science and earth science are. 

13 (B) The relationship between NASA’s space 

14 and earth science activities and those of other 

15 Federal agencies. 

16 (4) CONSULTATION.—In developing the policy 

17 under this subsection, the Administrator shall draw 

18 on decadal surveys and other reports in planetary 

19 science, astronomy, solar and space physics, earth 

20 science, and any other relevant fields developed by the 

21 National Academy of Sciences. The Administrator 

22 shall also consult widely with academic and industry 

23 experts and with other Federal agencies. 

24 (5) HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE.—The policy de25 veloped under this subsection shall address plans for 
13

•HR 3070 RH 

1 a human mission to repair the Hubble Space Tele2 scope consistent with section 302 of this Act. 

3 (6) SCHEDULE.—The Administrator shall trans4 mit the policy developed under this subsection to the 

5 Committee on Science of the House of Representatives 

6 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans7 portation of the Senate not later than the date on 

8 which the President submits the proposed budget for 

9 the Federal Government for fiscal year 2007 to the 

10 Congress. The Administrator shall make available to 

11 those committees any study done by a nongovern12 mental entity that was used in the development of the 

13 policy. 

14 (e) FACILITIES.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall de16 velop a plan for managing NASA’s facilities through 

17 fiscal year 2015. The plan shall be consistent with the 

18 policies and plans developed pursuant to this section. 

19 (2) CONTENT.—At a minimum, the plan shall 

20 describe—

21 (A) any new facilities NASA intends to ac22 quire, whether through construction, purchase, or 

23 lease, and the expected dates for doing so; 
14

•HR 3070 RH 

1 (B) any facilities NASA intends to signifi2 cantly modify, and the expected dates for doing 

3 so; 

4 (C) any facilities NASA intends to close, 

5 and the expected dates for doing so; 

6 (D) any transaction NASA intends to con7 duct to sell, lease, or otherwise transfer the own8 ership of a facility, and the expected dates for 

9 doing so; 

10 (E) how each of the actions described in 

11 subparagraphs (A), (B), (C), and (D) will en12 hance the ability of NASA to carry out its pro13 grams; 

14 (F) the expected costs or savings expected 

15 from each of the actions described in subpara16 graphs (A), (B), (C), and (D); 

17 (G) the priority order of the actions de18 scribed in subparagraphs (A), (B), (C), and (D); 

19 (H) the budget assumptions of the plan, 

20 which for fiscal years 2006 and 2007 shall be 

21 consistent with the authorizations provided in 

22 title II of this Act; and 

23 (I) how facilities were evaluated in devel24 oping the plan. 
15

•HR 3070 RH 

1 (3) SCHEDULE.—The Administrator shall trans2 mit the plan developed under this subsection to the 

3 Committee on Science of the House of Representatives 

4 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans5 portation of the Senate not later than the date on 

6 which the President submits the proposed budget for 

7 the Federal Government for fiscal year 2008 to the 

8 Congress. 

9 (f) WORKFORCE.—

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall de11 velop a human capital strategy to ensure that NASA 

12 has a workforce of the appropriate size and with the 

13 appropriate skills to carry out the programs of 

14 NASA, consistent with the policies and plans devel15 oped pursuant to this section. The strategy shall cover 

16 the period through fiscal year 2011. 

17 (2) CONTENT.—The strategy shall describe, at a 

18 minimum—

19 (A) any categories of employees NASA in20 tends to reduce, the expected size and timing of 

21 those reductions, the methods NASA intends to 

22 use to make the reductions, and the reasons 

23 NASA no longer needs those employees; 

24 (B) any categories of employees NASA in25 tends to increase, the expected size and timing of 
16

•HR 3070 RH 

1 those increases, the methods NASA intends to use 

2 to recruit the additional employees, and the rea3 sons NASA needs those employees; 

4 (C) the steps NASA will use to retain need5 ed employees; and 

6 (D) the budget assumptions of the strategy, 

7 which for fiscal years 2006 and 2007 shall be 

8 consistent with the authorizations provided in 

9 title II of this Act, and any expected additional 

10 costs or savings from the strategy by fiscal year. 

11 (3) SCHEDULE.—The Administrator shall trans12 mit the strategy developed under this subsection to the 

13 Committee on Science of the House of Representatives 

14 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans15 portation of the Senate not later than the date on 

16 which the President submits the proposed budget for 

17 the Federal Government for fiscal year 2007 to the 

18 Congress. At least 60 days before transmitting the 

19 strategy, NASA shall provide a draft of the strategy 

20 to its Federal Employee Unions for a 30-day con21 sultation period after which NASA shall respond in 

22 writing to any written concerns provided by the 

23 Unions. 

24 (4) LIMITATION.—NASA may not initiate any 

25 buyout offer or Reduction in Force until 60 days after 
17

•HR 3070 RH 

1 the strategy required by this subsection has been 

2 transmitted to the Congress in accordance with para3 graph (3). NASA may not implement any Reduction 

4 in Force or other involuntary separations prior to 

5 October 1, 2006. 

6 (g) CENTER MANAGEMENT.—

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall con8 duct a study to determine whether any of NASA’s 

9 centers should be operated by or with the private sec10 tor by converting a center to a Federally Funded Re11 search and Development Center or through any other 

12 mechanism. 

13 (2) CONTENT.—The study shall, at a min14 imum—

15 (A) make a recommendation for the oper16 ation of each center and provide reasons for that 

17 recommendation; and 

18 (B) describe the advantages and disadvan19 tages of each mode of operation considered in the 

20 study. 

21 (3) CONSIDERATIONS.—In conducting the study, 

22 the Administrator shall take into consideration the 

23 experiences of other relevant Federal agencies in oper24 ating laboratories and centers and any reports that 

25 have reviewed the mode of operation of those labora-
18

•HR 3070 RH 

1 tories and centers, as well as any reports that have 

2 reviewed NASA’s centers. 

3 (4) SCHEDULE.—The Administrator shall trans4 mit the study conducted under this subsection to the 

5 Committee on Science of the House of Representatives 

6 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans7 portation of the Senate not later than May 31, 2006. 

8 (h) BUDGETS.—The proposed budget for NASA sub9 mitted by the President for each fiscal year shall be accom10 panied by documents showing—

11 (1) the budget for each element of the human 

12 space flight program; 

13 (2) the budget for aeronautics; 

14 (3) the budget for space science; 

15 (4) the budget for earth science; 

16 (5) the budget for microgravity science; 

17 (6) the budget for education; 

18 (7) the budget for technology transfer programs; 

19 (8) the budget for the Integrated Financial Man20 agement Program, by individual element; 

21 (9) the budget for the Independent Technical Au22 thority, both total and by center; 

23 (10) the budget for public relations, by program; 
19

•HR 3070 RH 

1 (11) the comparable figures for at least the 2 pre2 vious fiscal years for each item in the proposed budg3 et; 

4 (12) the amount of unobligated funds and unex5 pended funds, by appropriations account—

6 (A) that remained at the end of the fiscal 

7 year prior to the fiscal year in which the budget 

8 is being presented that were carried over into the 

9 fiscal year in which the budget is being pre10 sented; 

11 (B) that are estimated will remain at the 

12 end of the fiscal year in which the budget is 

13 being presented that are proposed to be carried 

14 over into the fiscal year for which the budget is 

15 being presented; and 

16 (C) that are estimated will remain at the 

17 end of the fiscal year for which the budget is 

18 being presented; and 

19 (13) the budget for safety, by program. 

20 (i) GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—

21 NASA shall make available, upon request from the Com22 mittee on Science of the House of Representatives or the 

23 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 

24 the Senate, information on Corporate and Center General 
20

•HR 3070 RH 

1 and Administrative Costs and Service Pool costs, includ2 ing—

3 (1) the total amount of funds being allocated for 

4 those purposes for any fiscal year for which the Presi5 dent has submitted an annual budget request to Con6 gress; 

7 (2) the amount of funds being allocated for those 

8 purposes for each center, for headquarters, and for 

9 each directorate; and 

10 (3) the major activities included in each cost cat11 egory. 

12 (j) NASA TEST FACILITIES.—

13 (1) REVIEW.—The Director of the Office of 

14 Science and Technology Policy shall commission an 

15 independent review of the Nation’s long-term strategic 

16 needs for test facilities and shall submit the review to 

17 the Committee on Science of the House of Representa18 tives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

19 Transportation of the Senate. The review shall in20 clude an evaluation of the facility needs described 

21 pursuant to subsection (c)(2)(C). 

22 (2) LIMITATION.—The Administrator shall not 

23 close or mothball any aeronautical test facilities iden24 tified in the 2003 independent assessment by the 

25 RAND Corporation, entitled ‘‘Wind Tunnel and Pro-
21

•HR 3070 RH 

1 pulsion Test Facilities: An Assessment of NASA’s Ca2 pabilities to Serve National Needs’’ as being part of 

3 the minimum set of those facilities necessary to retain 

4 and manage to serve national needs, as well as any 

5 other NASA test facilities that were in use as of Jan6 uary 1, 2004, until the review conducted under para7 graph (1) has been transmitted to the Congress. 

8 SEC. 102. REPORTS. 

9 (a) IMMEDIATE ISSUES.—Not later than September 

10 30, 2005, the Administrator shall transmit to the Com11 mittee on Science of the House of Representatives and the 

12 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 

13 the Senate a report on each of the following items: 

14 (1) The research agenda for the ISS and its pro15 posed final configuration. 

16 (2) The number of flights the Space Shuttle will 

17 make before its retirement, the purpose of those 

18 flights, and the expected date of the final flight. 

19 (3) A description of the means, other than the 

20 Space Shuttle, that may be used to ferry crew and 

21 cargo to and from the ISS. 

22 (4) A plan for the operation of the ISS in the 

23 event that the Iran Nonproliferation Act of 2000 is 

24 not amended. 
22

•HR 3070 RH 

1 (5) A description of the launch vehicle for the 

2 Crew Exploration Vehicle. 

3 (6) A description of any heavy lift vehicle NASA 

4 intends to develop, the intended uses of that vehicle, 

5 and whether the decision to develop that vehicle has 

6 undergone an interagency review. 

7 (7) A description of the intended purpose of 

8 lunar missions and the architecture for those mis9 sions. 

10 (8) The program goals for Project Prometheus. 

11 (9) A plan for managing the cost increase for the 

12 James Webb Space Telescope. 

13 (b) CREW EXPLORATION VEHICLE.—The Adminis14 trator shall not enter into a development contract for the 

15 Crew Exploration Vehicle until at least 30 days after the 

16 Administrator has transmitted to the Committee on Science 

17 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Com18 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report 

19 describing—

20 (1) the expected cost of the Crew Exploration Ve21 hicle through fiscal year 2020, based on the specifica22 tions for that development contract; 

23 (2) the expected budgets for each fiscal year 

24 through fiscal year 2020 for human space flight, aero25 nautics, space science, and earth science—
23

•HR 3070 RH 

1 (A) first assuming inflationary growth for 

2 the budget of NASA as a whole and including 

3 costs for the Crew Exploration Vehicle as pro4 jected under paragraph (1); and 

5 (B) then assuming inflationary growth for 

6 the budget of NASA as a whole and including at 

7 least two cost estimates for the Crew Exploration 

8 Vehicle that are higher than those projected 

9 under paragraph (1), based on NASA’s past ex10 perience with cost increases for similar pro11 grams, along with a description of the reasons 

12 for selecting the cost estimates used for the cal13 culations under this subparagraph and the prob14 ability that the cost of the Crew Exploration Ve15 hicle will reach those estimated amounts; and 

16 (3) the extent to which the Crew Exploration Ve17 hicle will allow for the escape of the crew in the event 

18 of an emergency. 

19 (c) SPACE COMMUNICATIONS STUDY.—

20 (1) STUDY.—The Administrator shall develop a 

21 plan for updating NASA’s space communications ar22 chitecture for both low-Earth orbital operations and 

23 deep space exploration so that it is capable of meeting 

24 NASA’s needs over the next 20 years. The plan shall 

25 also include life-cycle cost estimates, milestones, esti-
24

•HR 3070 RH 

1 mated performance capabilities, and 5-year funding 

2 profiles. The plan shall also include an estimate of the 

3 amounts of any reimbursements NASA is likely to re4 ceive from other Federal agencies during the expected 

5 life of the upgrades described in the plan. The plan 

6 shall include a description of the following: 

7 (A) Projected Deep Space Network require8 ments for the next decade, including those in 

9 support of human space exploration missions. 

10 (B) Upgrades needed to support Deep Space 

11 Network requirements. 

12 (C) Cost estimates for the maintenance of 

13 existing Deep Space Network capabilities. 

14 (D) Cost estimates and schedules for the up15 grades described in subparagraph (B). 

16 (2) CONSULTATIONS.—The Administrator shall 

17 consult with other relevant Federal agencies in devel18 oping the plan under this subsection. 

19 (3) REPORT.—The Administrator shall transmit 

20 the plan under this subsection to the Committee on 

21 Science of the House of Representatives and the Com22 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 

23 the Senate not later than February 17, 2007. 

24 (d) PUBLIC RELATIONS.—Not later than December 31, 

25 2005, the Administrator shall transmit a plan to the Com-
25

•HR 3070 RH 

1 mittee on Appropriations and the Committee on Science of 

2 the House of Representatives, and to the Committee on Ap3 propriations and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

4 Transportation of the Senate, describing the activities that 

5 will be undertaken as part of the national awareness cam6 paign required by the report of the Committee on Appro7 priations of the House of Representatives accompanying the 

8 Science, State, Justice, Commerce, and Related Agencies 

9 Appropriations Act, 2006, and the expected cost of those ac10 tivities. NASA may undertake activities as part of the na11 tional awareness campaign prior to the transmittal of the 

12 plan required by this subsection, but not until 15 days after 

13 notifying the Committee on Science of the House of Rep14 resentatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

15 Transportation of the Senate of any activity. The plan re16 quired by this subsection shall include the estimated costs 

17 of any activities undertaken pursuant to notice under the 

18 preceding sentence. 

19 (e) JOINT DARK ENERGY MISSION.—The Adminis20 trator and the Director of the Department of Energy Office 

21 of Science shall jointly transmit to the Committee on 

22 Science of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

23 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate, 

24 not later than the date on which the President submits the 

25 proposed budget for the Federal Government for fiscal year 
26

•HR 3070 RH 

1 2007, a report on plans for a Joint Dark Energy Mission. 

2 The report shall include the amount of funds each agency 

3 intends to expend on the Joint Dark Energy Mission for 

4 each of the fiscal years 2007 through 2011, and any specific 

5 milestones for the development and launch of the Mission. 

6 (f) SHUTTLE EMPLOYEE TRANSITION.—The Adminis7 trator shall consult with other appropriate Federal agencies 

8 and with NASA contractors and employees to develop a 

9 transition plan for Federal and contractor personnel en10 gaged in the Space Shuttle program. The plan shall include 

11 actions to assist Federal and contractor personnel to take 

12 advantage of training, retraining, job placement, and relo13 cation programs, and any other actions that NASA will 

14 take to assist the employees. The plan shall also describe 

15 how the Administrator will ensure that NASA and its con16 tractors will have an appropriate complement of employees 

17 to allow for the safest possible use of the Space Shuttle 

18 through its final flight. The Administrator shall transmit 

19 the plan to the Committee on Science of the House of Rep20 resentatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

21 Transportation of the Senate not later than 90 days after 

22 the date of enactment of this Act. 

23 (g) OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY.—
27

•HR 3070 RH 

1 (1) STUDY.—The Director of the Office of 

2 Science and Technology Policy shall conduct a study 

3 to determine—

4 (A) if any research and development pro5 grams of NASA are unnecessarily duplicating 

6 aspects of programs of other Federal agencies; 

7 and 

8 (B) if any research and development pro9 grams of NASA are neglecting any topics of na10 tional interest that are related to the mission of 

11 NASA. 

12 (2) REPORT.—Not later than March 1, 2006, the 

13 Director of the Office of Science and Technology Pol14 icy shall transmit to the Committee on Science of the 

15 House of Representatives and the Committee on Com16 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a 

17 report that—

18 (A) describes the results of the study under 

19 paragraph (1); 

20 (B) lists the research and development pro21 grams of Federal agencies other than NASA that 

22 were reviewed as part of the study, which shall 

23 include any program supporting research and 

24 development in an area related to the programs 
28

•HR 3070 RH 

1 of NASA, and the most recent budget figures for 

2 those programs of other agencies; 

3 (C) recommends any changes to the research 

4 and development programs of NASA that should 

5 be made to eliminate unnecessary duplication or 

6 address topics of national interest; and 

7 (D) describes mechanisms the Office of 

8 Science and Technology Policy will use to ensure 

9 adequate coordination between NASA and Fed10 eral agencies that operate related programs. 

11 SEC. 103. BASELINES AND COST CONTROLS. 

12 (a) CONDITIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT.—

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—NASA shall not enter into a 

14 contract for the development phase of a major pro15 gram unless the Administrator determines that—

16 (A) the technical, cost, and schedule risks of 

17 the program are clearly identified and the pro18 gram has developed a plan to manage those 

19 risks; and 

20 (B) the program complies with all relevant 

21 policies, regulations, and directives of NASA. 

22 (2) REPORT.—The Administrator shall transmit 

23 a report describing the basis for the determination re24 quired under paragraph (1) to the Committee on 

25 Science of the House of Representatives and the Com-
29

•HR 3070 RH 

1 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 

2 the Senate at least 30 days before entering into a con3 tract for development under a major program. 

4 (3) NONDELEGATION.—The Administrator may 

5 not delegate the determination requirement under this 

6 subsection. 

7 (b) MAJOR PROGRAM ANNUAL REPORTS.—

8 (1) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than February 15 

9 of each year following the date of enactment of this 

10 Act, the Administrator shall transmit to the Com11 mittee on Science of the House of Representatives and 

12 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor13 tation of the Senate a report on each major program 

14 for which NASA proposes to expend funds in the sub15 sequent fiscal year. Reports under this section shall be 

16 known as Major Program Annual Reports. 

17 (2) BASELINE REPORT.—The first Major Pro18 gram Annual Report for each major program shall 

19 include a Baseline Report that shall, at a minimum, 

20 include—

21 (A) the purposes of the program and key 

22 technical characteristics necessary to fulfill those 

23 purposes; 

24 (B) an estimate of the life-cycle cost for the 

25 program, with a detailed breakout of the develop-
30

•HR 3070 RH 

1 ment cost and an estimate of the annual costs 

2 until the development is completed; 

3 (C) the schedule for the development, includ4 ing key program milestones; and 

5 (D) the name of the person responsible for 

6 making notifications under subsection (c), who 

7 shall be an individual whose primary responsi8 bility is overseeing the program. 

9 (3) INFORMATION UPDATES.—For major pro10 grams with respect to which a Baseline Report has 

11 been previously submitted, each subsequent Major 

12 Program Annual Report shall describe any changes to 

13 the information that had been provided in the Base14 line Report, and the reasons for those changes. 

15 (c) NOTIFICATION.—

16 (1) REQUIREMENT.—The individual identified 

17 under subsection (b)(2)(D) shall immediately notify 

18 the Administrator any time that individual has rea19 sonable cause to believe that, for the major program 

20 for which he or she is responsible—

21 (A) the development cost of the program is 

22 likely to exceed the estimate provided in the 

23 Baseline Report of the program by 15 percent or 

24 more; or 
31

•HR 3070 RH 

1 (B) a milestone of the program is likely to 

2 be delayed by 6 months or more from the date 

3 provided for it in the Baseline Report of the pro4 gram. 

5 (2) REASONS.—Not later than 7 days after the 

6 notification required under paragraph (1), the indi7 vidual identified under subsection (b)(2)(D) shall 

8 transmit to the Administrator a written notification 

9 explaining the reasons for the change in the cost or 

10 milestone of the program for which notification was 

11 provided under paragraph (1). 

12 (3) NOTIFICATION OF CONGRESS.—Not later 

13 than 5 days after the Administrator receives a writ14 ten notification under paragraph (2), the Adminis15 trator shall transmit the notification to the Com16 mittee on Science of the House of Representatives and 

17 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor18 tation of the Senate. 

19 (d) FIFTEEN PERCENT THRESHOLD.—Not later than 

20 30 days after receiving a written notification under sub21 section (c)(2), the Administrator shall determine whether 

22 the development cost of the program is likely to exceed the 

23 estimate provided in the Baseline Report of the program 

24 by 15 percent or more, or whether a milestone is likely to 
32

•HR 3070 RH 

1 be delayed by 6 months or more. If the determination is 

2 affirmative, the Administrator shall—

3 (1) transmit to the Committee on Science of the 

4 House of Representatives and the Committee on Com5 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate, not 

6 later than 14 days after making the determination, a 

7 report that includes—

8 (A) a description of the increase in cost or 

9 delay in schedule and a detailed explanation for 

10 the increase or delay; 

11 (B) a description of actions taken or pro12 posed to be taken in response to the cost increase 

13 or delay; and 

14 (C) a description of any impacts the cost 

15 increase or schedule delay will have on any other 

16 program within NASA; and 

17 (2) if the Administrator intends to continue with 

18 the program, promptly initiate an analysis of the 

19 program, which shall include, at a minimum—

20 (A) the projected cost and schedule for com21 pleting the program if current requirements of 

22 the program are not modified; 

23 (B) the projected cost and the schedule for 

24 completing the program after instituting the ac25 tions described under paragraph (1)(B); and 
33

•HR 3070 RH 

1 (C) a description of, and the projected cost 

2 and schedule for, a broad range of alternatives to 

3 the program. 

4 NASA shall complete an analysis initiated under para5 graph (2) not later than 6 months after the Administrator 

6 makes a determination under this subsection. The Adminis7 trator shall transmit the analysis to the Committee on 

8 Science of the House of Representatives and Committee on 

9 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate not 

10 later than 30 days after its completion. 

11 (e) THIRTY PERCENT THRESHOLD.—If the Adminis12 trator determines under subsection (d) that the development 

13 cost of a program will exceed the estimate provided in the 

14 Baseline Report of the program by more than the lower of 

15 30 percent or $1,000,000,000, then, beginning 1 year after 

16 the date the Administrator transmits a report under sub17 section (d)(1), the Administrator shall not expend any addi18 tional funds on the program, other than termination costs, 

19 unless the Congress has subsequently authorized continu20 ation of the program by law. If the program is continued, 

21 the Administrator shall submit a new Baseline Report for 

22 the program no later than 90 days after the date of enact23 ment of the Act under which Congress has authorized con24 tinuation of the program. 

25 (f) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section—
34

•HR 3070 RH 

1 (1) the term ‘‘development’’ means the phase of 

2 a program following the formulation phase and begin3 ning with the approval to proceed to implementation, 

4 as defined in NASA’s Procedural Requirements 

5 7120.5c, dated March 22, 2005; 

6 (2) the term ‘‘development cost’’ means the total 

7 of all costs, including construction of facilities and 

8 civil servant costs, from the period beginning with the 

9 approval to proceed to implementation through the 

10 achievement of operational readiness, without regard 

11 to funding source or management control, for the life 

12 of the program; 

13 (3) the term ‘‘life-cycle cost’’ means the total of 

14 the direct, indirect, recurring, and nonrecurring costs, 

15 including the construction of facilities and civil serv16 ant costs, and other related expenses incurred or esti17 mated to be incurred in the design, development, 

18 verification, production, operation, maintenance, sup19 port, and retirement of a program over its planned 

20 lifespan, without regard to funding source or manage21 ment control; and 

22 (4) the term ‘‘major program’’ means an activity 

23 approved to proceed to implementation that has an 

24 estimated life-cycle cost of more than $100,000,000. 
35

•HR 3070 RH 

1 SEC. 104. PRIZE AUTHORITY. 

2 The National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 (42 

3 U.S.C. 2451, et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 

4 313 the following new section: 

5 ‘‘PRIZE AUTHORITY

6 ‘‘SEC. 314. (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administration 

7 may carry out a program to competitively award cash 

8 prizes to stimulate innovation in basic and applied re9 search, technology development, and prototype demonstra10 tion that have the potential for application to the perform11 ance of the space and aeronautical activities of the Admin12 istration. The Administration may carry out a program 

13 to award prizes only in conformity with this section. 

14 ‘‘(b) TOPICS.—In selecting topics for prize competi15 tions, the Administrator shall consult widely both within 

16 and outside the Federal Government, and may empanel ad17 visory committees. 

18 ‘‘(c) ADVERTISING.—The Administrator shall widely 

19 advertise prize competitions to encourage participation. 

20 ‘‘(d) REQUIREMENTS AND REGISTRATION.—For each 

21 prize competition, the Administrator shall publish a notice 

22 in the Federal Register announcing the subject of the com23 petition, the rules for being eligible to participate in the 

24 competition, the amount of the prize, and the basis on which 

25 a winner will be selected. 
36

•HR 3070 RH 

1 ‘‘(e) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to win a prize under 

2 this section, an individual or entity—

3 ‘‘(1) shall have registered to participate in the 

4 competition pursuant to any rules promulgated by 

5 the Administrator under subsection (d); 

6 ‘‘(2) shall have complied with all the require7 ments under this section; 

8 ‘‘(3) in the case of a private entity, shall be in9 corporated in and maintain a primary place of busi10 ness in the United States, and in the case of an indi11 vidual, whether participating singly or in a group, 

12 shall be a citizen or permanent resident of the United 

13 States; and 

14 ‘‘(4) shall not be a Federal entity or Federal em15 ployee acting within the scope of their employment. 

16 ‘‘(f) LIABILITY.—(1) Registered participants must 

17 agree to assume any and all risks and waive claims against 

18 the United States Government and its related entities, ex19 cept in the case of willful misconduct, for any injury, death, 

20 damage, or loss of property, revenue, or profits, whether di21 rect, indirect, or consequential, arising from their partici22 pation in a competition, whether such injury, death, dam23 age, or loss arises through negligence or otherwise. For the 

24 purposes of this subparagraph, the term ‘related entity’ 

25 means a contractor or subcontractor at any tier, and a sup-
37

•HR 3070 RH 

1 plier, user, customer, cooperating party, grantee, investi2 gator, or detailee. 

3 ‘‘(2) Participants must obtain liability insurance or 

4 demonstrate financial responsibility in amounts to com5 pensate for the maximum probable loss, as determined by 

6 the Administrator, from claims by—

7 ‘‘(A) a third party for death, bodily injury, or 

8 property damage, or loss resulting from an activity 

9 carried out in connection with participation in a 

10 competition, with the Federal Government named as 

11 an additional insured under the registered partici12 pant’s insurance policy and registered participants 

13 agreeing to indemnify the Federal Government 

14 against third party claims for damages arising from 

15 or related to competition activities; and 

16 ‘‘(B) the United States Government for damage 

17 or loss to Government property resulting from such 

18 an activity. 

19 ‘‘(g) JUDGES.—For each competition, the Administra20 tion, either directly or through a contract under subsection 

21 (h), shall assemble a panel of qualified judges from both 

22 within and outside the Administration to select the winner 

23 or winners of the prize competition on the basis described 

24 pursuant to subsection (d). Judges for each competition 
38

•HR 3070 RH 

1 shall include individuals from the private sector. A judge 

2 may not—

3 ‘‘(1) have personal or financial interests in, or be 

4 employees, officers, directors, or agents of, any entity 

5 that is a registered participant in a competition; or 

6 ‘‘(2) have a familial or financial relationship 

7 with an individual who is a registered participant. 

8 ‘‘(h) ADMINISTERING THE COMPETITION.—The Ad9 ministrator may enter into an agreement with a private, 

10 nonprofit entity to administer the prize competition, subject 

11 to the provisions of this section. 

12 ‘‘(i) FUNDING.—(1) The Administrator may accept 

13 funds from other Federal agencies and from the private sec14 tor for cash prizes under this section. Such funds shall not 

15 increase the amount of a prize after the amount has been 

16 announced pursuant to subsection (d). The Administrator 

17 may not give any special consideration to any private sec18 tor entity in return for a donation. 

19 ‘‘(2) Funds appropriated for the program under this 

20 section shall remain available until expended, and may be 

21 transferred, reprogrammed, or expended for other purposes 

22 only after the expiration of 10 fiscal years after the fiscal 

23 year for which the funds were originally appropriated. No 

24 provision in this section permits obligation or payment of 
39

•HR 3070 RH 

1 funds in violation of the Anti-Deficiency Act (31 U.S.C. 

2 1341). 

3 ‘‘(3) No prize may be announced under subsection (d) 

4 until all the funds for that prize have been appropriated 

5 or obligated for such purpose by a private sector source. 

6 ‘‘(4) No prize competition under this section may offer 

7 a prize in an amount greater than $10,000,000 unless 30 

8 days have elapsed after written notice has been provided 

9 to the Committee on Science of the House of Representatives 

10 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor11 tation of the Senate. 

12 ‘‘(j) USE OF NASA NAME AND INSIGNIA.—A registered 

13 participant in a competition under this section may use 

14 the Administration’s name, initials, or insignia only after 

15 prior review and written approval by the Administration. 

16 ‘‘(k) COMPLIANCE WITH EXISTING LAW.—The Federal 

17 Government shall not, by virtue of offering or providing a 

18 prize under this section, be responsible for compliance by 

19 registered participants in a prize competition with Federal 

20 law, including licensing, export control, and nonprolifera21 tion laws, and related regulations.’’. 

22 SEC. 105. FOREIGN LAUNCH VEHICLES. 

23 (a) ACCORD WITH SPACE TRANSPORTATION POL24 ICY.—NASA shall not launch a mission on a foreign launch 
40

•HR 3070 RH 

1 vehicle except in accordance with the Space Transportation 

2 Policy announced by the President on December 21, 2004. 

3 (b) INTERAGENCY COORDINATION.—NASA shall not 

4 launch a mission on a foreign launch vehicle unless NASA 

5 commenced the interagency coordination required by the 

6 Space Transportation Policy announced by the President 

7 on December 21, 2004, at least 90 days before entering into 

8 a development contract for the mission. 

9 (c) APPLICATION.—This section shall not apply to any 

10 mission for which development has begun prior to the date 

11 of enactment of this Act, including the James Webb Space 

12 Telescope. 

13 SEC. 106. SAFETY MANAGEMENT. 

14 Section 6 of the National Aeronautics and Space Ad15 ministration Authorization Act, 1968 (42 U.S.C. 2477) is 

16 amended—

17 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before 

18 ‘‘There is hereby’’; 

19 (2) by striking ‘‘plans referred to it’’ and insert20 ing ‘‘plans referred to it, including evaluating the Na21 tional Aeronautics and Space Administration’s com22 pliance with the return-to-flight and continue-to-fly 

23 recommendations of the Columbia Accident Investiga24 tion Board,’’; 
41

•HR 3070 RH 

1 (3) by inserting ‘‘and the Congress’’ after ‘‘advise 

2 the Administrator’’; 

3 (4) by striking ‘‘and with respect to the ade4 quacy of proposed or existing safety standards and 

5 shall’’ and inserting ‘‘, with respect to the adequacy 

6 of proposed or existing safety standards, and with re7 spect to management and culture. The Panel shall 

8 also’’; and 

9 (5) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(b) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Panel shall submit an 

11 annual report to the Administrator and to the Congress. 

12 In the first annual report submitted after the date of enact13 ment of the National Aeronautics and Space Administra14 tion Authorization Act of 2005, the Panel shall include an 

15 evaluation of the Administration’s safety management cul16 ture. Each annual report shall include an evaluation of the 

17 Administration’s compliance with the recommendations of 

18 the Columbia Accident Investigation Board.’’. 

19 SEC. 107. LESSONS LEARNED AND BEST PRACTICES. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall provide an 

21 implementation plan describing NASA’s approach for ob22 taining, implementing, and sharing lessons learned and 

23 best practices for its major programs and projects not later 

24 than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act. The 

25 implementation plan shall be updated and maintained to 
42

•HR 3070 RH 

1 ensure that it is current and consistent with the burgeoning 

2 culture of learning and safety that is emerging at NASA. 

3 (b) REQUIRED CONTENT.—The implementation plan 

4 shall contain at a minimum the lessons learned and best 

5 practices requirements for NASA, the organizations or posi6 tions responsible for enforcement of the requirements, the 

7 reporting structure, and the objective performance measures 

8 indicating the effectiveness of the activity. 

9 (c) INCENTIVES.—The Administrator shall provide in10 centives to encourage sharing and implementation of lessons 

11 learned and best practices by employees, projects, and pro12 grams, as well as penalties for programs and projects that 

13 are determined not to have demonstrated use of those re14 sources. 

15 SEC. 108. COMMERCIALIZATION PLAN. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in consultation 

17 with other relevant agencies, shall develop a commercializa18 tion plan to support the human missions to the Moon and 

19 Mars, to support Low-Earth Orbit activities and Earth 

20 science missions and applications, and to transfer science 

21 research and technology to society. The plan shall identify 

22 opportunities for the private sector to participate in the fu23 ture missions and activities, including opportunities for 

24 partnership between NASA and the private sector in con25 ducting research and the development of technologies and 
43

•HR 3070 RH 

1 services. The plan shall include provisions for developing 

2 and funding sustained university and industry partner3 ships to conduct commercial research and technology devel4 opment, to proactively translate results of space research 

5 to Earth benefits, to advance United States economic inter6 ests, and to support the vision for exploration. 

7 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

8 of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit 

9 a copy of the plan to the Committee on Science of the House 

10 of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 

11 Science, and Transportation of the Senate. 

12 SEC. 109. STUDY ON THE FEASIBILITY OF USE OF GROUND 

13 SOURCE HEAT PUMPS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall conduct a 

15 feasibility study on the use of ground source heat pumps 

16 in future NASA facilities or substantial renovation of exist17 ing NASA facilities involving the installation of heating, 

18 ventilating, and air conditioning systems. 

19 (b) CONTENTS.—The study shall examine—

20 (1) the life-cycle costs, including maintenance 

21 costs, of the operation of such heat pumps compared 

22 to generally available heating, cooling, and water 

23 heating equipment; 

24 (2) barriers to installation, such as availability 

25 and suitability of terrain; and 
44

•HR 3070 RH 

1 (3) such other issues as the Administrator con2 siders appropriate. 

3 (c) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘ground 

4 source heat pump’’ means an electric-powered system that 

5 uses the Earth’s relatively constant temperature to provide 

6 heating, cooling, or hot water. 

7 TITLE II—AUTHORIZATION OF 

8 APPROPRIATIONS 

9 SEC. 201. STRUCTURE OF BUDGETARY ACCOUNTS. 

10 Section 313 of the National Aeronautics and Space Act 

11 of 1958 (42 U.S.C. 2459f) is amended to read as follows: 

12 ‘‘SEC. 313. BUDGETARY ACCOUNTS. 

13 ‘‘Appropriations for the Administration for fiscal year 

14 2007 and thereafter shall be made in four accounts, 

15 ‘Science, Aeronautics, and Education’, ‘Exploration Sys16 tems’, ‘Space Operations’, and an account for amounts ap17 propriated for the necessary expenses of the Office of the 

18 Inspector General. Appropriations shall remain available 

19 for two fiscal years, unless otherwise specified in law. Each 

20 account shall include the planned full costs of Administra21 tion activities.’’. 

22 SEC. 202. FISCAL YEAR 2006. 

23 There are authorized to be appropriated to NASA for 

24 fiscal year 2006 $16,471,050,000, as follows: 
45

•HR 3070 RH 

1 (1) For Science, Aeronautics and Education (in2 cluding amounts for construction of facilities), 

3 $6,870,250,000 of which—

4 (A) $962,000,000 shall be for Aeronautics; 

5 (B) $150,000,000 shall be for a Hubble 

6 Space Telescope servicing mission; and 

7 (C) $24,000,000 shall be for the National 

8 Space Grant College and Fellowship Program. 

9 (2) For Exploration Systems (including amounts 

10 for construction of facilities), $3,181,100,000. 

11 (3) For Space Operations (including amounts 

12 for construction of facilities), $6,387,300,000. 

13 (4) For the Office of Inspector General, 

14 $32,400,000. 

15 SEC. 203. FISCAL YEAR 2007. 

16 There are authorized to be appropriated to NASA for 

17 fiscal year 2007 $16,962,000,000, as follows: 

18 (1) For Science, Aeronautics and Education (in19 cluding amounts for construction of facilities), 

20 $7,331,600,000 of which—

21 (A) $990,000,000 shall be for Aeronautics; 

22 and 

23 (B) $24,000,000 shall be for the National 

24 Space Grant College and Fellowship Program. 
46

•HR 3070 RH 

1 (2) For Exploration Systems (including amounts 

2 for construction of facilities), $3,589,200,000. 

3 (3) For Space Operations (including amounts 

4 for construction of facilities), $6,007,700,000. 

5 (4) For the Office of Inspector General, 

6 $33,500,000. 

7 SEC. 204. ISS RESEARCH. 

8 The Administrator shall allocate at least 15 percent 

9 of the funds budgeted for ISS research to research that is 

10 not directly related to supporting the human exploration 

11 program. 

12 SEC. 205. TEST FACILITIES. 

13 (a) CHARGES.—The Administrator shall establish a 

14 policy of charging users of NASA’s test facilities for the 

15 costs associated with their tests at a level that is competitive 

16 with alternative test facilities. As a general principle, 

17 NASA shall not seek to recover the full costs of the operation 

18 of those facilities from the users. The Administrator shall 

19 not implement a policy of seeking full cost recovery for a 

20 facility until at least 30 days after transmitting a notice 

21 to the Committee on Science of the House of Representatives 

22 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor23 tation of the Senate. 

24 (b) FUNDING ACCOUNT.—The Administrator shall es25 tablish a funding account that shall be used for all test fa-
47

•HR 3070 RH 

1 cilities. The account shall be sufficient to maintain the via2 bility of test facilities during periods of low utilization. 

3 SEC. 206. PROPORTIONALITY. 

4 If the total amount appropriated for NASA pursuant 

5 to section 202 or 203 is less than the amount authorized 

6 under such section, the amounts authorized under each of 

7 the accounts specified in such section shall be reduced pro8 portionately. 

9 SEC. 207. LIMITATIONS ON AUTHORITY. 

10 Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, no 

11 amount appropriated pursuant to this Act may be used for 

12 any program in excess of the amount actually authorized 

13 for the particular program by section 202 or 203, unless 

14 a period of 30 days has passed after the receipt, by each 

15 such Committee, of notice given by the Administrator con16 taining a full and complete statement of the action proposed 

17 to be taken and the facts and circumstances relied upon 

18 in support of such a proposed action. NASA shall keep the 

19 Committee on Science of the House of Representatives and 

20 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

21 of the Senate fully and currently informed with respect to 

22 all activities and responsibilities within the jurisdiction of 

23 those Committees. 
48

•HR 3070 RH 

1 SEC. 208. NOTICE OF REPROGRAMMING. 

2 If any funds authorized by this Act are subject to a 

3 reprogramming action that requires notice to be provided 

4 to the Appropriations Committees of the House of Rep5 resentatives and the Senate, notice of such action shall con6 currently be provided to the Committee on Science of the 

7 House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 

8 Science, and Transportation of the Senate. 

9 SEC. 209. COST OVERRUNS. 

10 When reprogramming funds to cover unexpected cost 

11 growth within a program, the Administrator shall, to the 

12 maximum extent practicable, protect funds intended for 

13 fundamental and applied Research and Analysis. 

14 SEC. 210. OFFICIAL REPRESENTATIONAL FUND. 

15 Amounts appropriated pursuant to this Act may be 

16 used, but not to exceed a total of $35,000 in any fiscal year, 

17 for official reception and representation expenses. 

18 SEC. 211. INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION COST CAP. 

19 Section 202 of the National Aeronautics and Space 

20 Administration Authorization Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 2451 

21 note) is repealed. 
49

•HR 3070 RH 

1 TITLE III—SCIENCE 

2 Subtitle A—General Provisions 

3 SEC. 301. PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENTS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Performance of each discipline in 

5 the Science account of NASA shall be reviewed and assessed 

6 by the National Academy of Sciences at 5-year intervals. 

7 (b) TIMING.—Beginning with the first fiscal year fol8 lowing the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 

9 shall select at least one discipline for review under this sec10 tion. The Administrator shall select disciplines so that all 

11 disciplines will have received their first review within six 

12 fiscal years of the date of enactment of this Act. 

13 (c) REPORTS.—Each year, beginning with the first fis14 cal year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Admin15 istrator shall transmit a report to the Committee on Science 

16 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Com17 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate—

18 (1) setting forth in detail the results of any ex19 ternal review under subsection (a); 

20 (2) setting forth in detail actions taken by NASA 

21 in response to any external review; and 

22 (3) including a summary of findings and rec23 ommendations from any other relevant external re24 views of NASA’s science mission priorities and pro25 grams. 
50

•HR 3070 RH 

1 SEC. 302. STATUS REPORT ON HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE 

2 SERVICING MISSION. 

3 It is the sense of the Congress that the Hubble Space 

4 Telescope is an extraordinary instrument that has provided, 

5 and should continue to provide, answers to profound sci6 entific questions. In accordance with the recommendations 

7 of the National Academy of Sciences, all appropriate efforts 

8 should be expended to complete the Space Shuttle servicing 

9 mission. Upon successful completion of the planned return10 to-flight schedule of the Space Shuttle, the schedule for a 

11 Space Shuttle servicing mission to the Hubble Space Tele12 scope shall be determined, unless such a mission would com13 promise astronaut safety. Not later than 60 days after the 

14 landing of the second Space Shuttle mission for return-to15 flight certification, the Administrator shall transmit to the 

16 Committee on Science of the House of Representatives and 

17 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

18 of the Senate a status report on plans for a Hubble Space 

19 Telescope servicing mission. 

20 SEC. 303. INDEPENDENT ASSESSMENT OF LANDSAT21 NPOESS INTEGRATED MISSION. 

22 (a) ASSESSMENT.—In view of the importance of ensur23 ing continuity of Landsat data and in view of the chal24 lenges facing the National Polar-Orbiting Environmental 

25 Satellite System program, the Administrator shall seek an 

26 independent assessment of the costs as well as the technical, 
51

•HR 3070 RH 

1 cost, and schedule risks associated with incorporating the 

2 Landsat instrument on the first National Polar-Orbiting 

3 Environmental Satellite System spacecraft versus under4 taking a dedicated Landsat data ‘‘gap-filler’’ mission fol5 lowed by the incorporation of the Landsat instrument on 

6 the second National Polar-Orbiting Environmental Sat7 ellite System spacecraft. The assessment shall also include 

8 an evaluation of the budgetary requirements of each of the 

9 options under consideration. 

10 (b) REPORT.—The Administrator shall transmit the 

11 independent assessment to the Committee on Science of the 

12 House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 

13 Science, and Transportation of the Senate not later than 

14 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act. 

15 SEC. 304. ASSESSMENT OF SCIENCE MISSION EXTENSIONS. 

16 (a) ASSESSMENT.—The Administrator shall carry out 

17 annual termination reviews within each of the Science dis18 ciplines to assess the cost and benefits of extending the date 

19 of the termination of data collection for those missions 

20 which are beyond their primary goals. In addition: 

21 (1) Not later than 60 days after the date of en22 actment of this Act, the Administrator shall carry out 

23 such an assessment for the following missions: FAST, 

24 TIMED, Cluster, Wind, Geotail, Polar, TRACE, 

25 Ulysses, and Voyager. 
52

•HR 3070 RH 

1 (2) For those missions that have an operational 

2 component, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

3 Administration shall be consulted and the potential 

4 benefits of instruments on missions which are beyond 

5 their primary goals taken into account. 

6 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 30 days after completing 

7 the assessments required by subsection (a)(1), the Adminis8 trator shall transmit a report on the assessment to the Com9 mittee on Science of the House of Representatives and the 

10 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 

11 the Senate. 

12 SEC. 305. MICROGRAVITY RESEARCH. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall—

14 (1) not later than 60 days after the date of en15 actment of this Act, provide to the Committee on 

16 Science of the House of Representatives and the Com17 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 

18 the Senate an assessment of microgravity research 

19 planned for implementation aboard the ISS that in20 cludes the identification of research which can be per21 formed in ground-based facilities and then validated 

22 in space; 

23 (2) ensure the capacity to support ground-based 

24 research leading to space-based basic and applied sci25 entific research in a variety of disciplines with poten-
53

•HR 3070 RH 

1 tial direct national benefits and applications that can 

2 advance significantly from the uniqueness of micro3 gravity and the space environment; and 

4 (3) carry out, to the maximum extent practicable 

5 basic, applied, and commercial ISS research activi6 ties such as molecular crystal growth, animal re7 search, basic fluid physics, combustion research, cel8 lular biotechnology, low temperature physics, and cel9 lular research at a level which will sustain the exist10 ing scientific expertise and research capabilities. 

11 (b) ON-ORBIT CAPABILITIES.—The Administrator 

12 shall ensure that the on-orbit analytical capabilities of the 

13 ISS are sufficient to support any diagnostic human re14 search and on-orbit characterization of molecular crystal 

15 growth, cellular research, and other research that NASA be16 lieves is necessary to conduct, but for which NASA lacks 

17 the capacity to return the materials that need to be ana18 lyzed to Earth. 

19 (c) ASSESSMENT OF POTENTIAL SCIENTIFIC USES.—

20 The Administrator shall assess further potential scientific 

21 uses of the ISS for other applications, such as technology 

22 development, development of manufacturing processes, 

23 Earth observation and characterization, and astronomical 

24 observations. 
54

•HR 3070 RH 

1 SEC. 306. COORDINATION WITH THE NATIONAL OCEANIC 

2 AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION. 

3 (a) JOINT WORKING GROUP.—The Administrator and 

4 the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

5 Administration shall appoint a Joint Working Group, 

6 which shall review and monitor missions of the two agencies 

7 to ensure maximum coordination in the design, operation, 

8 and transition of missions. The Joint Working Group shall 

9 also prepare the transition plans required by subsection (c). 

10 (b) COORDINATION REPORT.—Not later than February 

11 15 of each year, the Under Secretary of Commerce for 

12 Oceans and Atmosphere and the Administrator shall jointly 

13 transmit a report to the Committee on Science of the House 

14 of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 

15 Science, and Transportation of the Senate on how the earth 

16 science programs of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

17 Administration and NASA will be coordinated during the 

18 fiscal year following the fiscal year in which the report is 

19 transmitted. 

20 (c) COORDINATION OF TRANSITION PLANNING AND RE21 PORTING.—The Administrator, in conjunction with the Ad22 ministrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad23 ministration, shall evaluate all NASA missions for their po24 tential operational capabilities and shall prepare transition 

25 plans for all existing and future Earth observing systems 

26 found to have potential operational capabilities and all Na-
55

•HR 3070 RH 

1 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration oper2 ational space-based systems. 

3 (d) LIMITATION.—The Administrator shall not trans4 fer any NASA earth science mission or Earth observing sys5 tem to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra6 tion until the transition plan required under subsection (c) 

7 has been approved by the Administrator and the Adminis8 trator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis9 tration and until financial resources have been identified 

10 to support the transition or transfer in the President’s 

11 budget request for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

12 Administration. 

13 Subtitle B—Remote Sensing 

14 SEC. 311. DEFINITIONS. 

15 In this subtitle—

16 (1) the term ‘‘geospatial information’’ means 

17 knowledge of the nature and distribution of physical 

18 and cultural features on the landscape based on anal19 ysis of data from airborne or spaceborne platforms or 

20 other types and sources of data; 

21 (2) the term ‘‘high resolution’’ means resolution 

22 better than five meters; and 

23 (3) the term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ 

24 has the meaning given that term in section 101(a) of 
56

•HR 3070 RH 

1 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

2 1001(a)). 

3 SEC. 312. PILOT PROJECTS TO ENCOURAGE PUBLIC SEC4 TOR APPLICATIONS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall establish 

6 a program of grants for competitively awarded pilot 

7 projects to explore the integrated use of sources of remote 

8 sensing and other geospatial information to address State, 

9 local, regional, and tribal agency needs. 

10 (b) PREFERRED PROJECTS.—In awarding grants 

11 under this section, the Administrator shall give preference 

12 to projects that—

13 (1) make use of commercial data sets, including 

14 high resolution commercial satellite imagery and de15 rived satellite data products, existing public data sets 

16 where commercial data sets are not available or ap17 plicable, or the fusion of such data sets; 

18 (2) integrate multiple sources of geospatial infor19 mation, such as geographic information system data, 

20 satellite-provided positioning data, and remotely 

21 sensed data, in innovative ways; 

22 (3) include funds or in-kind contributions from 

23 non-Federal sources; 

24 (4) involve the participation of commercial enti25 ties that process raw or lightly processed data, often 
57

•HR 3070 RH 

1 merging that data with other geospatial information, 

2 to create data products that have significant value 

3 added to the original data; and 

4 (5) taken together demonstrate as diverse a set of 

5 public sector applications as possible. 

6 (c) OPPORTUNITIES.—In carrying out this section, the 

7 Administrator shall seek opportunities to assist—

8 (1) in the development of commercial applica9 tions potentially available from the remote sensing in10 dustry; and 

11 (2) State, local, regional, and tribal agencies in 

12 applying remote sensing and other geospatial infor13 mation technologies for growth management. 

14 (d) DURATION.—Assistance for a pilot project under 

15 subsection (a) shall be provided for a period not to exceed 

16 3 years. 

17 (e) REPORT.—Each recipient of a grant under sub18 section (a) shall transmit a report to the Administrator on 

19 the results of the pilot project within 180 days of the com20 pletion of that project. 

21 (f) WORKSHOP.—Each recipient of a grant under sub22 section (a) shall, not later than 180 days after the comple23 tion of the pilot project, conduct at least one workshop for 

24 potential users to disseminate the lessons learned from the 

25 pilot project as widely as feasible. 
58

•HR 3070 RH 

1 (g) REGULATIONS.—The Administrator shall issue reg2 ulations establishing application, selection, and implemen3 tation procedures for pilot projects, and guidelines for re4 ports and workshops required by this section. 

5 SEC. 313. PROGRAM EVALUATION. 

6 (a) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—The Administrator shall 

7 establish an advisory committee, consisting of individuals 

8 with appropriate expertise in State, local, regional, and 

9 tribal agencies, the university research community, and the 

10 remote sensing and other geospatial information industry, 

11 to monitor the program established under section 312. The 

12 advisory committee shall consult with the Federal Geo13 graphic Data Committee and other appropriate industry 

14 representatives and organizations. Notwithstanding section 

15 14 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the advisory 

16 committee established under this subsection shall remain in 

17 effect until the termination of the program under section 

18 312. 

19 (b) EFFECTIVENESS EVALUATION.—Not later than De20 cember 31, 2009, the Administrator shall transmit to the 

21 Congress an evaluation of the effectiveness of the program 

22 established under section 312 in exploring and promoting 

23 the integrated use of sources of remote sensing and other 

24 geospatial information to address State, local, regional, and 
59

•HR 3070 RH 

1 tribal agency needs. Such evaluation shall have been con2 ducted by an independent entity. 

3 SEC. 314. DATA AVAILABILITY. 

4 The Administrator shall ensure that the results of each 

5 of the pilot projects completed under section 312 shall be 

6 retrievable through an electronic, Internet-accessible data7 base. 

8 SEC. 315. EDUCATION. 

9 The Administrator shall establish an educational out10 reach program to increase awareness at institutions of high11 er education and State, local, regional, and tribal agencies 

12 of the potential applications of remote sensing and other 

13 geospatial information. 

14 Subtitle C—George E. Brown, Jr. 

15 Near-Earth Object Survey 

16 SEC. 321. GEORGE E. BROWN, JR. NEAR-EARTH OBJECT SUR17 VEY. 

18 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the 

19 ‘‘George E. Brown, Jr. Near-Earth Object Survey Act’’. 

20 (b) FINDINGS.—The Congress makes the following 

21 findings: 

22 (1) Near-Earth objects pose a serious and cred23 ible threat to humankind, as many scientists believe 

24 that a major asteroid or comet was responsible for the 
60

•HR 3070 RH 

1 mass extinction of the majority of the Earth’s species, 

2 including the dinosaurs, nearly 65,000,000 years ago. 

3 (2) Similar objects have struck the Earth or 

4 passed through the Earth’s atmosphere several times 

5 in the Earth’s history and pose a similar threat in 

6 the future. 

7 (3) Several such near-Earth objects have only 

8 been discovered within days of the objects’ closest ap9 proach to Earth, and recent discoveries of such large 

10 objects indicate that many large near-Earth objects 

11 remain undiscovered. 

12 (4) The efforts taken to date by NASA for detect13 ing and characterizing the hazards of near-Earth ob14 jects are not sufficient to fully determine the threat 

15 posed by such objects to cause widespread destruction 

16 and loss of life. 

17 (c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section the 

18 term ‘‘near-Earth object’’ means an asteroid or comet with 

19 a perihelion distance of less that 1.3 Astronomical Units 

20 from the Sun. 

21 (d) NEAR-EARTH OBJECT SURVEY.—

22 (1) SURVEY PROGRAM.—The Administrator shall 

23 plan, develop, and implement a Near-Earth Object 

24 Survey program to detect, track, catalogue, and char25 acterize the physical characteristics of near-Earth ob-
61

•HR 3070 RH 

1 jects equal to or greater than 100 meters in diameter 

2 in order to assess the threat of such near-Earth objects 

3 to the Earth. It shall be the goal of the Survey pro4 gram to achieve 90 percent completion of its near5 Earth object catalogue (based on statistically pre6 dicted populations of near-Earth objects) within 15 

7 years after the date of enactment of this Act. 

8 (2) AMENDMENTS.—Section 102 of the National 

9 Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 (42 U.S.C. 2451) 

10 is amended—

11 (A) by redesignating subsection (g) as sub12 section (h); 

13 (B) by inserting after subsection (f) the fol14 lowing new subsection: 

15 ‘‘(g) The Congress declares that the general welfare and 

16 security of the United States require that the unique com17 petence of the National Aeronautics and Space Administra18 tion be directed to detecting, tracking, cataloguing, and 

19 characterizing near-Earth asteroids and comets in order to 

20 provide warning and mitigation of the potential hazard of 

21 such near-Earth objects to the Earth.’’; and 

22 (C) in subsection (h), as so redesignated by 

23 subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, by striking 

24 ‘‘and (f)’’ and inserting ‘‘(f), and (g)’’. 
62

•HR 3070 RH 

1 (3) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Administrator shall 

2 transmit to the Congress, not later than February 28 

3 of each of the next 5 years beginning after the date 

4 of enactment of this Act, a report that provides the 

5 following: 

6 (A) A summary of all activities taken pur7 suant to paragraph (1) for the previous fiscal 

8 year. 

9 (B) A summary of expenditures for all ac10 tivities pursuant to paragraph (1) for the pre11 vious fiscal year. 

12 (4) INITIAL REPORT.—The Administrator shall 

13 transmit to Congress not later than 1 year after the 

14 date of enactment of this Act an initial report that 

15 provides the following: 

16 (A) An analysis of possible alternatives that 

17 NASA may employ to carry out the Survey pro18 gram, including ground-based and space-based 

19 alternatives with technical descriptions. 

20 (B) A recommended option and proposed 

21 budget to carry out the Survey program pursu22 ant to the recommended option. 

23 (C) An analysis of possible alternatives that 

24 NASA could employ to divert an object on a like25 ly collision course with Earth. 
63

•HR 3070 RH 

1 TITLE IV—AERONAUTICS 

2 SEC. 401. DEFINITION. 

3 For purposes of this title, the term ‘‘institution of high4 er education’’ has the meaning given that term by section 

5 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

6 Subtitle A—National Policy for Aer7 onautics Research and Develop8 ment 

9 SEC. 411. POLICY. 

10 It shall be the policy of the United States to reaffirm 

11 the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 and its 

12 identification of aeronautical research and development as 

13 a core mission of NASA. Further, it shall be the policy of 

14 the United States to promote aeronautical research and de15 velopment that will expand the capacity, ensure the safety, 

16 and increase the efficiency of the Nation’s air transpor17 tation system, promote the security of the Nation, protect 

18 the environment, and retain the leadership of the United 

19 States in global aviation. 

20 Subtitle B—NASA Aeronautics 

21 Breakthrough Research Initiatives 

22 SEC. 421. ENVIRONMENTAL AIRCRAFT RESEARCH AND DE23 VELOPMENT INITIATIVE. 

24 (a) OBJECTIVE.—The Administrator may establish an 

25 initiative with the objective of developing, and dem-
64

•HR 3070 RH 

1 onstrating in a relevant environment, within 10 years after 

2 the date of enactment of this Act, technologies to enable the 

3 following commercial aircraft performance characteristics: 

4 (1) NOISE.—Noise levels on takeoff and on air5 port approach and landing that do not exceed ambi6 ent noise levels in the absence of flight operations in 

7 the vicinity of airports from which such commercial 

8 aircraft would normally operate. 

9 (2) ENERGY CONSUMPTION.—Twenty-five percent 

10 reduction in the energy required for medium to long 

11 range flights, compared to aircraft in commercial 

12 service as of the date of enactment of this Act. This 

13 reduction may be achieved by a combination of im14 provements to—

15 (A) specific fuel consumption; 

16 (B) lift-to-drag ratio; and 

17 (C) structural weight fraction. 

18 (3) EMISSIONS.—Nitrogen oxides on take-off and 

19 landing that are reduced by 50 percent relative to 

20 aircraft in commercial service as of the date of enact21 ment of this Act. 

22 (b) STUDY.—

23 (1) REQUIREMENT.—The Administrator shall 

24 enter into an arrangement for the National Research 

25 Council to conduct a study to identify and quantify 
65

•HR 3070 RH 

1 new markets that would be created, as well as existing 

2 markets that would be expanded, by the incorporation 

3 of the technologies developed pursuant to this section 

4 into future commercial aircraft. The study shall iden5 tify whether any of the performance characteristics 

6 specified in subsection (a) would need to be made 

7 more stringent in order to create new markets or ex8 pand existing markets. The National Research Coun9 cil shall seek input from at least the aircraft manu10 facturing industry, academia, and the airlines in car11 rying out the study. 

12 (2) REPORT.—A report containing the results of 

13 the study conducted under paragraph (1) shall be pro14 vided to Congress not later than 18 months after the 

15 date of enactment of this Act. 

16 SEC. 422. CIVIL SUPERSONIC TRANSPORT RESEARCH AND 

17 DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE. 

18 The Administrator may establish an initiative with 

19 the objective of developing, and demonstrating in a relevant 

20 environment, within 20 years after the date of enactment 

21 of this Act, technologies to enable overland flight of super22 sonic civil transport aircraft with at least the following per23 formance characteristics: 

24 (1) Mach number of at least 1.4. 

25 (2) Range of at least 4,000 nautical miles. 
66

•HR 3070 RH 

1 (3) Payload of at least 24 passengers. 

2 (4) Noise levels on takeoff and on airport ap3 proach and landing that meet community noise 

4 standards in place at airports from which such com5 mercial supersonic aircraft would normally operate 

6 at the time the aircraft would enter commercial serv7 ice. 

8 (5) Shaped sonic boom signatures sufficiently 

9 low to permit overland flight over populated areas. 

10 (6) Nitrogen oxide, carbon dioxide, and water 

11 vapor emissions consistent with regulations likely to 

12 be in effect at the time of this aircraft’s introduction. 

13 SEC. 423. ROTORCRAFT AND OTHER RUNWAY-INDE14 PENDENT AIR VEHICLES RESEARCH AND DE15 VELOPMENT INITIATIVE. 

16 The Administrator may establish a rotorcraft and 

17 other runway-independent air vehicles initiative with the 

18 objective of developing and demonstrating in a relevant en19 vironment, within 10 years after the date of enactment of 

20 this Act, technologies to enable significantly safer, quieter, 

21 and more environmentally compatible operation from a 

22 wider range of airports under a wider range of weather con23 ditions than is the case for rotorcraft and other runway24 independent air vehicles in service as of the date of enact25 ment of this Act. 
67

•HR 3070 RH 

1 Subtitle C—Other NASA Aero2 nautics Research and Develop3 ment Activities 

4 SEC. 431. FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY 

5 BASE PROGRAM. 

6 (a) OBJECTIVE.—In order to ensure that the Nation 

7 maintains needed capabilities in fundamental areas of 

8 aeronautical research, the Administrator shall establish a 

9 program of long-term fundamental research in aeronautical 

10 sciences and technologies that is not tied to specific develop11 ment projects. 

12 (b) ASSESSMENT.—The Administrator shall enter into 

13 an arrangement with the National Research Council for an 

14 assessment of the Nation’s future requirements for funda15 mental aeronautics research and whether the Nation will 

16 have a skilled research workforce and research facilities 

17 commensurate with those requirements. The assessment 

18 shall include an identification of any projected gaps, and 

19 recommendations for what steps should be taken by the Fed20 eral Government to eliminate those gaps. 

21 (c) REPORT.—The Administrator shall transmit the 

22 assessment, along with NASA’s response to the assessment, 

23 to Congress not later than 2 years after the date of enact24 ment of this Act. 
68

•HR 3070 RH 

1 SEC. 432. AIRSPACE SYSTEMS RESEARCH. 

2 (a) OBJECTIVE.—The Airspace Systems Research pro3 gram shall pursue research and development to enable revo4 lutionary improvements to and modernization of the Na5 tional Airspace System, as well as to enable the introduc6 tion of new systems for vehicles that can take advantage 

7 of an improved, modern air transportation system. 

8 (b) ALIGNMENT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

9 of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall align the 

10 projects of the Airspace Systems Research program so that 

11 they directly support the objectives of the Joint Planning 

12 and Development Office’s Next Generation Air Transpor13 tation System Integrated Plan. 

14 SEC. 433. AVIATION SAFETY AND SECURITY RESEARCH. 

15 (a) OBJECTIVE.—The Aviation Safety and Security 

16 Research program shall pursue research and development 

17 activities that directly address the safety and security needs 

18 of the National Airspace System and the aircraft that fly 

19 in it. The program shall develop prevention, intervention, 

20 and mitigation technologies aimed at causal, contributory, 

21 or circumstantial factors of aviation accidents. 

22 (b) PLAN.—Not later than 1 year after the date of en23 actment of this Act, the Administrator shall transmit to 

24 Congress a 5-year prioritized plan for the research to be 

25 conducted within the Aviation Safety and Security Re26 search program. The plan shall be aligned with the objec-
69

•HR 3070 RH 

1 tives of the Joint Planning and Development Office’s Next 

2 Generation Air Transportation System Integrated Plan. 

3 SEC. 434. ZERO-EMISSIONS AIRCRAFT RESEARCH. 

4 (a) OBJECTIVE.—The Administrator may establish a 

5 zero-emissions aircraft research program whose objective 

6 shall be to develop and test concepts to enable a hydrogen 

7 fuel cell-powered aircraft that would have no hydrocarbon 

8 or nitrogen oxide emissions into the environment. 

9 (b) APPROACH.—The Administrator may establish a 

10 program of competitively awarded grants available to teams 

11 of researchers that may include the participation of indi12 viduals from universities, industry, and government for the 

13 conduct of this research. 

14 SEC. 435. MARS AIRCRAFT RESEARCH. 

15 (a) OBJECTIVE.—The Administrator may establish a 

16 Mars Aircraft project whose objective shall be to develop and 

17 test concepts for an uncrewed aircraft that could operate 

18 for sustained periods in the atmosphere of Mars. 

19 (b) APPROACH.—The Administrator may establish a 

20 program of competitively awarded grants available to teams 

21 of researchers that may include the participation of indi22 viduals from universities, industry, and government for the 

23 conduct of this research. 
70

•HR 3070 RH 

1 SEC. 436. HYPERSONICS RESEARCH. 

2 The Administrator may establish a hypersonics re3 search program whose objective shall be to explore the 

4 science and technology of hypersonic flight using air-breath5 ing propulsion concepts, through a mix of theoretical work, 

6 basic and applied research, and development of flight re7 search demonstration vehicles. 

8 SEC. 437. NASA AERONAUTICS SCHOLARSHIPS. 

9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator shall estab10 lish a program of scholarships for full-time graduate stu11 dents who are United States citizens and are enrolled in, 

12 or have been accepted by and have indicated their intention 

13 to enroll in, accredited Masters degree programs in aero14 nautical engineering at institutions of higher education. 

15 Each such scholarship shall cover the costs of room, board, 

16 tuition, and fees, and may be provided for a maximum of 

17 2 years. 

18 (b) IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than 180 days after 

19 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 

20 publish regulations governing the scholarship program 

21 under this section. 

22 (c) COOPERATIVE TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES.—Stu23 dents who have been awarded a scholarship under this sec24 tion shall have the opportunity for paid employment at one 

25 of the NASA Centers engaged in aeronautics research and 

26 development during the summer prior to the first year of 
71

•HR 3070 RH 

1 the student’s Masters program, and between the first and 

2 second year, if applicable. 

3 SEC. 438. AVIATION WEATHER RESEARCH. 

4 The Administrator may carry out a program of col5 laborative research with the National Oceanic and Atmos6 pheric Administration on convective weather events, with 

7 the goal of significantly improving the reliability of 2-hour 

8 to 6-hour aviation weather forecasts. 

9 SEC. 439. ASSESSMENT OF WAKE TURBULENCE RESEARCH 

10 AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM. 

11 (a) ASSESSMENT.—The Administrator shall enter into 

12 an arrangement with the National Research Council for an 

13 assessment of Federal wake turbulence research and develop14 ment programs. The assessment shall address at least the 

15 following questions: 

16 (1) Are the Federal research and development 

17 goals and objectives well defined? 

18 (2) Are there any deficiencies in the Federal re19 search and development goals and objectives? 

20 (3) What roles should be played by each of the 

21 relevant Federal agencies, such as NASA, the Federal 

22 Aviation Administration, and the National Oceanic 

23 and Atmospheric Administration, in wake turbulence 

24 research and development? 
72

•HR 3070 RH 

1 (b) REPORT.—A report containing the results of the 

2 assessment conducted pursuant to subsection (a) shall be 

3 provided to Congress not later than 1 year after the date 

4 of enactment of this Act. 

5 SEC. 440. UNIVERSITY-BASED CENTERS FOR RESEARCH ON 

6 AVIATION TRAINING. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may award 

8 grants to institutions of higher education (or consortia 

9 thereof) to establish one or more Centers for Research on 

10 Aviation Training under cooperative agreements with ap11 propriate NASA Centers. 

12 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Centers shall be to 

13 investigate the impact of new technologies and procedures, 

14 particularly those related to the aircraft flight deck and to 

15 the air traffic management functions, on training require16 ments for pilots and air traffic controllers. 

17 (c) APPLICATION.—An institution of higher education 

18 (or a consortium of such institutions) seeking funding 

19 under this section shall submit an application to the Ad20 ministrator at such time, in such manner, and containing 

21 such information as the Administrator may require, includ22 ing, at a minimum, a 5-year research plan. 

23 (d) AWARD DURATION.—An award made by the Ad24 ministrator under this section shall be for a period of 5 

25 years and may be renewed on the basis of—
73

•HR 3070 RH 

1 (1) satisfactory performance in meeting the goals 

2 of the research plan proposed by the Center in its ap3 plication under subsection (c); and 

4 (2) other requirements as specified by the Ad5 ministrator. 

6 TITLE V—HUMAN SPACE FLIGHT 

7 SEC. 501. INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION COMPLETION. 

8 (a) ELEMENTS, CAPABILITIES, AND CONFIGURATION

9 CRITERIA.—The Administrator shall ensure that the ISS 

10 will be able to—

11 (1) be used for a diverse range of microgravity 

12 research, including fundamental, applied, and com13 mercial research; 

14 (2) have an ability to support crew size of at 

15 least 6 persons; 

16 (3) support Crew Exploration Vehicle docking 

17 and automated docking of cargo vehicles or modules 

18 launched by either heavy-lift or commercially-devel19 oped launch vehicles; and 

20 (4) be operated at an appropriate risk level. 

21 (b) CONTINGENCY PLAN.—The transportation plan to 

22 support ISS shall include contingency options to ensure suf23 ficient logistics and on-orbit capabilities to support any po24 tential period during which the Space Shuttle or its follow25 on crew and cargo systems is unavailable, and provide suf-
74

•HR 3070 RH 

1 ficient prepositioning of spares and other supplies needed 

2 to accommodate any such hiatus. 

3 (c) CERTIFICATION.—Not later than 60 days after the 

4 date of enactment of this Act, and before making any change 

5 in the ISS assembly sequence in effect on the date of enact6 ment of this Act, the Administrator shall certify in writing 

7 to the Committee on Science of the House of Representatives 

8 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor9 tation of the Senate NASA’s plan to meet the requirements 

10 of subsections (a) and (b). 

11 SEC. 502. HUMAN EXPLORATION PRIORITIES. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall—

13 (1) construct an architecture and implementa14 tion plan for NASA’s human exploration program 

15 that is not critically dependent on the achievement of 

16 milestones by fixed dates; and 

17 (2) determine the relative priority of each of the 

18 potential elements of NASA’s implementation plan for 

19 its human exploration program in case funding short20 falls or cost growth necessitate the adjustment of 

21 NASA’s implementation plan. 

22 (b) PRIORITIES.—Development of a Crew Exploration 

23 Vehicle with a robust crew escape system, development of 

24 a launch system for the Crew Exploration Vehicle, and defi25 nition of an overall architecture and prioritized implemen-
75

•HR 3070 RH 

1 tation plan shall be the highest priorities of the human ex2 ploration program over the period governed by this Act. 

3 SEC. 503. GAO ASSESSMENT. 

4 Not later than 9 months after the date of enactment 

5 of this Act, the Comptroller General shall transmit to the 

6 Committee on Science of the House of Representatives and 

7 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

8 of the Senate an assessment of the milestones and estimated 

9 costs of the plans submitted under section 102(a)(7). 

10 TITLE VI—OTHER PROGRAM 

11 AREAS 

12 Subtitle A—Space and Flight 

13 Support 

14 SEC. 601. ORBITAL DEBRIS. 

15 The Administrator, in conjunction with the heads of 

16 other Federal agencies, shall take steps to develop or acquire 

17 technologies that will enable NASA to decrease the risks as18 sociated with orbital debris. 

19 SEC. 602. SECONDARY PAYLOAD CAPABILITY. 

20 The Administrator is encouraged to provide the capa21 bilities to support secondary payloads on United States 

22 launch vehicles, including freeflyers, for satellites or sci23 entific payloads. 
76

•HR 3070 RH 

1 Subtitle B—Education 

2 SEC. 611. INSTITUTIONS IN NASA’S MINORITY INSTITU3 TIONS PROGRAM. 

4 The matter appearing under the heading ‘‘NATIONAL

5 AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION—SMALL

6 AND DISADVANTAGED BUSINESS’’ in title III of the Depart7 ments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Develop8 ment, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1990 

9 (42 U.S.C. 2473b; 103 Stat. 863) is amended by striking 

10 ‘‘Historically Black Colleges and Universities and’’ and in11 serting ‘‘Historically Black Colleges and Universities that 

12 are part B institutions (as defined in section 322(2) of the 

13 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061(2))), His14 panic-serving institutions (as defined in section 502(a)(5) 

15 of that Act (20 U.S.C. 1101a(a)(5))), Tribal Colleges or 

16 Universities (as defined in section 316(b)(3) of that Act (20 

17 U.S.C. 1059c(b)(3))), Alaskan Native-serving institutions 

18 (as defined in section 317(b)(2) of that Act (20 U.S.C. 

19 1059d)(b)(2))), Native Hawaiian-serving institutions (as 

20 defined in section 317(b)(4) of that Act (20 U.S.C. 

21 1059d(b)(4))), and’’. 

22 SEC. 612. PROGRAM TO EXPAND DISTANCE LEARNING IN 

23 RURAL UNDERSERVED AREAS. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall develop or 

25 expand programs to extend science and space educational 
77

•HR 3070 RH 

1 outreach to rural communities and schools through video 

2 conferencing, interpretive exhibits, teacher education, class3 room presentations, and student field trips. 

4 (b) PRIORITIES.—In carrying out subsection (a), the 

5 Administrator shall give priority to existing programs—

6 (1) that utilize community-based partnerships in 

7 the field; 

8 (2) that build and maintain video conference 

9 and exhibit capacity; 

10 (3) that travel directly to rural communities and 

11 serve low-income populations; and 

12 (4) with a special emphasis on increasing the 

13 number of women and minorities in the science and 

14 engineering professions. 

15 SEC. 613. CHARLES ‘‘PETE’’ CONRAD ASTRONOMY AWARDS. 

16 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the 

17 ‘‘Charles ‘Pete’ Conrad Astronomy Awards Act’’. 

18 (b) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section—

19 (1) the term ‘‘amateur astronomer’’ means an 

20 individual whose employer does not provide any 

21 funding, payment, or compensation to the individual 

22 for the observation of asteroids and other celestial bod23 ies, and does not include any individual employed as 

24 a professional astronomer; 
78

•HR 3070 RH 

1 (2) the term ‘‘Minor Planet Center’’ means the 

2 Minor Planet Center of the Smithsonian Astro3 physical Observatory; 

4 (3) the term ‘‘near-Earth asteroid’’ means an as5 teroid with a perihelion distance of less than 1.3 As6 tronomical Units from the Sun; and 

7 (4) the term ‘‘Program’’ means the Charles 

8 ‘‘Pete’’ Conrad Astronomy Awards Program estab9 lished under subsection (c). 

10 (c) PETE CONRAD ASTRONOMY AWARD PROGRAM.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall es12 tablish the Charles ‘‘Pete’’ Conrad Astronomy Awards 

13 Program. 

14 (2) AWARDS.—The Administrator shall make 

15 awards under the Program based on the recommenda16 tions of the Minor Planet Center. 

17 (3) AWARD CATEGORIES.—The Administrator 

18 shall make one annual award, unless there are no eli19 gible discoveries or contributions, for each of the fol20 lowing categories: 

21 (A) The amateur astronomer or group of 

22 amateur astronomers who in the preceding cal23 endar year discovered the intrinsically brightest 

24 near-Earth asteroid among the near-Earth aster25 oids that were discovered during that year by 
79

•HR 3070 RH 

1 amateur astronomers or groups of amateur as2 tronomers. 

3 (B) The amateur astronomer or group of 

4 amateur astronomers who made the greatest con5 tribution to the Minor Planet Center’s mission of 

6 cataloguing near-Earth asteroids during the pre7 ceding year. 

8 (4) AWARD AMOUNT.—An award under the Pro9 gram shall be in the amount of $3,000. 

10 (5) GUIDELINES.—(A) No individual who is not 

11 a citizen or permanent resident of the United States 

12 at the time of his discovery or contribution may re13 ceive an award under this section. 

14 (B) The decisions of the Administrator in mak15 ing awards under this section are final. 

16 SEC. 614. REVIEW OF EDUCATION PROGRAMS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall enter into 

18 an arrangement with the National Research Council of the 

19 National Academy of Sciences to conduct a review and eval20 uation of NASA’s science, technology, engineering, and 

21 mathematics education program. The review and evalua22 tion shall be documented in a report to the Administrator 

23 and shall include such recommendations as the National 

24 Research Council determines will improve the effectiveness 

25 of the program. 
80

•HR 3070 RH 

1 (b) REVIEW.—The review and evaluation under sub2 section (a) shall include—

3 (1) an evaluation of the effectiveness of the over4 all program in meeting its defined goals and objec5 tives; 

6 (2) an assessment of the quality and educational 

7 effectiveness of the major components of the program, 

8 including an evaluation of the adequacy of assessment 

9 metrics and data collection requirements available for 

10 determining the effectiveness of individual projects; 

11 (3) an evaluation of the funding priorities in the 

12 program, including a review of the funding level and 

13 funding trend for each major component of the pro14 gram and an assessment of whether the resources 

15 made available are consistent with meeting identified 

16 goals and priorities; and 

17 (4) a determination of the extent and the effec18 tiveness of coordination and collaboration between 

19 NASA and other Federal agencies that sponsor 

20 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics 

21 education activities. 

22 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 18 months 

23 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 

24 shall transmit to the Committee on Science of the House 

25 of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 
81

•HR 3070 RH 

1 Science, and Transportation of the Senate the report re2 quired under subsection (a). 

3 SEC. 615. EQUAL ACCESS TO NASA’S EDUCATION PRO4 GRAMS. 

5 The Administrator shall strive to ensure equal access 

6 for minority and economically disadvantaged students to 

7 NASA’s Education programs. Not later than 1 year after 

8 the date of enactment of this Act, and every 2 years there9 after, the Administrator shall submit a report to the Com10 mittee on Science of the House of Representatives and the 

11 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 

12 the Senate describing the efforts by the Administrator to 

13 ensure equal access for minority and economically dis14 advantaged students under this section, and the results of 

15 such efforts. 

16 TITLE VII—MISCELLANEOUS 

17 AMENDMENTS 

18 SEC. 701. RETROCESSION OF JURISDICTION. 

19 The National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 (42 

20 U.S.C. 2451 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end of 

21 title III the following new section: 

22 ‘‘RETROCESSION OF JURISDICTION

23 ‘‘SEC. 316. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision 

24 of law, the Administrator may relinquish to a State all or 

25 part of the legislative jurisdiction of the United States over 
82

•HR 3070 RH 

1 lands or interests under the control of the Administrator 

2 in that State. 

3 ‘‘(b) For purposes of this section, the term ‘State’ 

4 means any of the several States, the District of Columbia, 

5 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin 

6 Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana 

7 Islands, and any other commonwealth, territory, or posses8 sion of the United States.’’. 

9 SEC. 702. EXTENSION OF INDEMNIFICATION. 

10 Section 309 of the National Aeronautics and Space Act 

11 of 1958 (42 U.S.C. 458c) is amended in subsection (f)(1) 

12 by striking ‘‘December 31, 2002’’ through ‘‘September 30, 

13 2005’’ and inserting, ‘‘December 31, 2010, except that the 

14 Administrator may extend the termination date to a date 

15 not later than September 30, 2015, if the Administrator has 

16 entered into an arrangement with the National Academy 

17 of Public Administration to determine the impact on pri18 vate parties and the Federal Government of eliminating 

19 this section’’. 

20 SEC. 703. NASA SCHOLARSHIPS. 

21 (a) AMENDMENTS.—Section 9809 of title 5, United 

22 States Code, is amended—

23 (1) in subsection (a)(2) by striking ‘‘Act.’’ and 

24 inserting ‘‘Act (42 U.S.C. 1885a or 1885b).’’; 
83

•HR 3070 RH 

1 (2) in subsection (c) by striking ‘‘require.’’ and 

2 inserting ‘‘require to carry out this section.’’; 

3 (3) in subsection (f)(1) by striking the last sen4 tence; and 

5 (4) in subsection (g)(2) by striking ‘‘Treasurer of 

6 the’’ and all that follows through ‘‘by 3’’ and insert7 ing ‘‘Treasurer of the United States’’. 

8 (b) REPEAL.—The Vision 100—Century of Aviation 

9 Reauthorization Act is amended by striking section 703 (42 

10 U.S.C. 2473e). 

11 SEC. 704. INDEPENDENT COST ANALYSIS. 

12 Section 301 of the National Aeronautics and Space 

13 Administration Authorization Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 

14 2459g) is amended—

15 (1) by striking ‘‘Phase B’’ in subsection (a) and 

16 inserting ‘‘implementation’’; 

17 (2) by striking ‘‘$150,000,000’’ in subsection (a) 

18 and inserting ‘‘$250,000,000’’; 

19 (3) by striking ‘‘Chief Financial Officer’’ each 

20 place it appears in subsection (a) and inserting ‘‘Ad21 ministrator’’; 

22 (4) by inserting ‘‘and consider’’ in subsection (a) 

23 after ‘‘shall conduct’’; and 

24 (5) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the 

25 following: 
84

•HR 3070 RH 

1 ‘‘(b) IMPLEMENTATION DEFINED.—In this section, the 

2 term ‘implementation’ means all activity in the life cycle 

3 of a project after preliminary design, independent assess4 ment of the preliminary design, and approval to proceed 

5 into implementation, including critical design, develop6 ment, certification, launch, operations, disposal of assets, 

7 and, for technology programs, development, testing, anal8 ysis and communication of the results.’’. 

9 SEC. 705. LIMITATIONS ON OFF-SHORE PERFORMANCE OF 

10 CONTRACTS FOR THE PROCUREMENT OF 

11 GOODS AND SERVICES. 

12 (a) CONVERSIONS TO CONTRACTOR PERFORMANCE OF

13 ADMINISTRATION ACTIVITIES.—Except as provided in sub14 section (c), an activity or function of the Administration 

15 that is converted to contractor performance under Office of 

16 Management and Budget Circular A–76 may not be per17 formed by the contractor or any subcontractor at a location 

18 outside the United States. 

19 (b) CONTRACTS FOR THE PROCUREMENT OF SERV20 ICES.—(1) Except as provided in subsection (c), a contract 

21 for the procurement of goods or services that is entered into 

22 by the Administrator may not be performed outside the 

23 United States unless it is to meet a requirement of the Ad24 ministration for goods or services specifically at a location 

25 outside the United States. 
85

•HR 3070 RH 

1 (2) The President may waive the prohibition in para2 graph (1) in the case of any contract for which the Presi3 dent determines in writing that it is necessary in the na4 tional security interests of the United States for goods or 

5 services under the contract to be performed outside the 

6 United States. 

7 (3) The Administrator may waive the prohibition in 

8 paragraph (1) in the case of any contract for which the 

9 Administrator determines in writing that essential goods 

10 or services under the contract are only available from a 

11 source outside the United States. 

12 (c) EXCEPTION.—Subsections (a) and (b)(1) shall not 

13 apply to the extent that the activity or function under the 

14 contract was previously performed by Federal Government 

15 employees outside the United States. 

16 (d) CONSISTENCY WITH INTERNATIONAL AGREE17 MENTS.—The provisions of this section shall not apply to 

18 the extent that they are inconsistent with obligations of the 

19 United States under international agreements. 

20 (e) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Administrator shall sub21 mit to Congress, not later than 120 days after the end of 

22 each fiscal year, a report on the contracts performed over23 seas and amount of purchases by NASA from foreign enti24 ties in that fiscal year. Such report shall separately indicate 

25 the dollar value of contracts for which the provisions of this 
86

•HR 3070 RH 

1 section were waived and the dollar value of items for which 

2 the Buy American Act was waived pursuant to obligations 

3 of the United States under international agreements. 

4 TITLE VIII—INDEPENDENT 

5 COMMISSIONS 

6 SEC. 1. DEFINITIONS. 

7 For purposes of this title—

8 (1) the term ‘‘Commission’’ means a Commission 

9 established under this title; and 

10 (2) the term ‘‘incident’’ means either an accident 

11 or a deliberate act. 

12 Subtitle A—International Space 

13 Station Independent Safety Com14 mission 

15 SEC. 811. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION. 

16 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The President shall establish 

17 an independent, nonpartisan Commission within the execu18 tive branch to discover and assess any vulnerabilities of the 

19 International Space Station that could lead to its destruc20 tion, compromise the health of its crew, or necessitate its 

21 premature abandonment. 

22 (b) DEADLINE FOR ESTABLISHMENT.—The President 

23 shall issue an executive order establishing a Commission 

24 within 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act. 
87

•HR 3070 RH 

1 SEC. 812. TASKS OF THE COMMISSION. 

2 The Commission established under section 811 shall, 

3 to the extent possible, undertake the following tasks: 

4 (1) Catalog threats to and vulnerabilities of the 

5 ISS, including design flaws, natural phenomena, 

6 computer software or hardware flaws, sabotage or ter7 rorist attack, number of crewmembers, and inability 

8 to adequately deliver replacement parts and supplies, 

9 and management or procedural deficiencies. 

10 (2) Make recommendations for corrective actions. 

11 (3) Provide any additional findings or rec12 ommendations related to ISS safety. 

13 (4) Prepare a report to Congress, the President, 

14 and the public. 

15 SEC. 813. SUNSET. 

16 The Commission established under this subtitle shall 

17 expire not later than one year after the date on which the 

18 full Commission membership is appointed. 

19 Subtitle B—Human Space Flight 

20 Independent Investigation Com21 mission 

22 SEC. 821. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION. 

23 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The President shall establish 

24 an independent, nonpartisan Commission within the execu25 tive branch to investigate any incident that results in the 

26 loss of—
88

•HR 3070 RH 

1 (1) a Space Shuttle; 

2 (2) the International Space Station or its oper3 ational viability; 

4 (3) any other United States space vehicle car5 rying humans that is being used pursuant to a con6 tract with the Federal Government; or 

7 (4) a crew member or passenger of any space ve8 hicle described in this subsection. 

9 (b) DEADLINE FOR ESTABLISHMENT.—The President 

10 shall issue an executive order establishing a Commission 

11 within 7 days after an incident specified in subsection (a). 

12 SEC. 822. TASKS OF THE COMMISSION. 

13 A Commission established pursuant to this subtitle 

14 shall, to the extent possible, undertake the following tasks: 

15 (1) Investigate the incident. 

16 (2) Determine the cause of the incident. 

17 (3) Identify all contributing factors to the cause 

18 of the incident. 

19 (4) Make recommendations for corrective actions. 

20 (5) Provide any additional findings or rec21 ommendations deemed by the Commission to be im22 portant, whether or not they are related to the specific 

23 incident under investigation. 

24 (6) Prepare a report to Congress, the President, 

25 and the public. 
89

•HR 3070 RH 

1 Subtitle C—Organization and 

2 Operation of Commissions 

3 SEC. 831. COMPOSITION OF COMMISSIONS. 

4 (a) NUMBER OF COMMISSIONERS.—A Commission es5 tablished pursuant to this title shall consist of 15 members. 

6 (b) SELECTION.—The members of a Commission shall 

7 be chosen in the following manner: 

8 (1) The President shall appoint the members, 

9 and shall designate the Chairman and Vice Chairman 

10 of the Commission from among its members. 

11 (2) Four of the 15 members appointed by the 

12 President shall be selected by the President in the fol13 lowing manner: 

14 (A) The majority leader of the Senate, the 

15 minority leader of the Senate, the Speaker of the 

16 House of Representatives, and the minority lead17 er of the House of Representatives shall each pro18 vide to the President a list of candidates for 

19 membership on the Commission. 

20 (B) The President shall select one of the 

21 candidates from each of the 4 lists for member22 ship on the Commission. 

23 (3) In the case of a Commission established 

24 under subtitle A, the President shall select one can25 didate from a list of candidates for membership on 
90

•HR 3070 RH 

1 the Commission provided by the President of the col2 lective-bargaining organization including the largest 

3 member of NASA engineers. 

4 (4) No officer or employee of the Federal Govern5 ment shall serve as a member of the Commission. 

6 (5) No member of the Commission shall have, or 

7 have pending, a contractual relationship with NASA. 

8 (6) The President shall not appoint any indi9 vidual as a member of a Commission under this sec10 tion who has a current or former relationship with 

11 the Administrator that the President determines 

12 would constitute a conflict of interest. 

13 (7) To the extent practicable, the President shall 

14 ensure that the members of the Commission include 

15 some individuals with experience relative to human 

16 carrying spacecraft, as well as some individuals with 

17 investigative experience and some individuals with 

18 legal experience. 

19 (8) To the extent practicable, the President shall 

20 seek diversity in the membership of the Commission. 

21 (9) The President may waive the prohibitions in 

22 paragraphs (5) and (6) with respect to the selection 

23 of not more than 2 members of a Commission estab24 lished under subtitle A. 
91

•HR 3070 RH 

1 (c) DEADLINE FOR APPOINTMENT.—All members of a 

2 Commission established under subtitle A shall be appointed 

3 no later than 60 days after issuance of the executive order 

4 establishing the Commission. All members of a Commission 

5 established under subtitle B shall be appointed no later than 

6 30 days after the incident. 

7 (d) INITIAL MEETING.—A Commission shall meet and 

8 begin operations as soon as practicable. 

9 (e) QUORUM; VACANCIES.—After its initial meeting, a 

10 Commission shall meet upon the call of the Chairman or 

11 a majority of its members. Eight members of a Commission 

12 shall constitute a quorum. Any vacancy in a Commission 

13 shall not affect its powers, but shall be filled in the same 

14 manner in which the original appointment was made. 

15 SEC. 832. POWERS OF COMMISSION. 

16 (a) HEARINGS AND EVIDENCE.—A Commission or, on 

17 the authority of the Commission, any subcommittee or 

18 member thereof, may, for the purpose of carrying out this 

19 title—

20 (1) hold such hearings and sit and act at such 

21 times and places, take such testimony, receive such 

22 evidence, administer such oaths; and 

23 (2) require, by subpoena or otherwise, the attend24 ance and testimony of such witnesses and the produc-
92

•HR 3070 RH 

1 tion of such books, records, correspondence, memo2 randa, papers, and documents, 

3 as the Commission or such designated subcommittee or des4 ignated member may determine advisable. 

5 (b) CONTRACTING.—A Commission may, to such extent 

6 and in such amounts as are provided in appropriation 

7 Acts, enter into contracts to enable the Commission to dis8 charge its duties under this title. 

9 (c) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.—

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—A Commission may secure di11 rectly from any executive department, bureau, agency, 

12 board, commission, office, independent establishment, 

13 or instrumentality of the Government, information, 

14 suggestions, estimates, and statistics for the purposes 

15 of this title. Each department, bureau, agency, board, 

16 commission, office, independent establishment, or in17 strumentality shall, to the extent authorized by law, 

18 furnish such information, suggestions, estimates, and 

19 statistics directly to the Commission, upon request 

20 made by the Chairman, the chairman of any sub21 committee created by a majority of the Commission, 

22 or any member designated by a majority of the Com23 mission. 

24 (2) RECEIPT, HANDLING, STORAGE, AND DIS25 SEMINATION.—Information shall only be received, 
93

•HR 3070 RH 

1 handled, stored, and disseminated by members of the 

2 Commission and its staff consistent with all applica3 ble statutes, regulations, and Executive orders. 

4 (d) ASSISTANCE FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.—

5 (1) GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION.—The 

6 Administrator of General Services shall provide to a 

7 Commission on a reimbursable basis administrative 

8 support and other services for the performance of the 

9 Commission’s tasks. 

10 (2) OTHER DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES.—In 

11 addition to the assistance prescribed in paragraph 

12 (1), departments and agencies of the United States 

13 may provide to the Commission such services, funds, 

14 facilities, staff, and other support services as they 

15 may determine advisable and as may be authorized 

16 by law. 

17 (3) NASA ENGINEERING AND SAFETY CENTER.—

18 The NASA Engineering and Safety Center shall pro19 vide data and technical support as requested by a 

20 Commission. 

21 SEC. 833. PUBLIC MEETINGS, INFORMATION, AND HEAR22 INGS. 

23 (a) PUBLIC MEETINGS AND RELEASE OF PUBLIC

24 VERSIONS OF REPORTS.—A Commission shall—
94

•HR 3070 RH 

1 (1) hold public hearings and meetings to the ex2 tent appropriate; and 

3 (2) release public versions of the reports required 

4 under this Act. 

5 (b) PUBLIC HEARINGS.—Any public hearings of a 

6 Commission shall be conducted in a manner consistent with 

7 the protection of information provided to or developed for 

8 or by the Commission as required by any applicable statute, 

9 regulation, or Executive order. 

10 SEC. 834. STAFF OF COMMISSION. 

11 (a) APPOINTMENT AND COMPENSATION.—The Chair12 man, in consultation with Vice Chairman, in accordance 

13 with rules agreed upon by a Commission, may appoint and 

14 fix the compensation of a staff director and such other per15 sonnel as may be necessary to enable the Commission to 

16 carry out its functions. 

17 (b) DETAILEES.—Any Federal Government employee, 

18 except for an employee of NASA, may be detailed to a Com19 mission without reimbursement from the Commission, and 

20 such detailee shall retain the rights, status, and privileges 

21 of his or her regular employment without interruption. 

22 (c) CONSULTANT SERVICES.—A Commission may pro23 cure the services of experts and consultants in accordance 

24 with section 3109 of title 5, United States Code, but at rates 

25 not to exceed the daily rate paid a person occupying a posi-
95

•HR 3070 RH 

1 tion at level IV of the Executive Schedule under section 

2 5315 of title 5, United States Code. Any consultant or ex3 pert whose services are procured under this subsection shall 

4 disclose any contract or association it has with NASA or 

5 any NASA contractor. 

6 SEC. 835. COMPENSATION AND TRAVEL EXPENSES. 

7 (a) COMPENSATION.—Each member of a Commission 

8 may be compensated at not to exceed the daily equivalent 

9 of the annual rate of basic pay in effect for a position at 

10 level IV of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 

11 5, United States Code, for each day during which that mem12 ber is engaged in the actual performance of the duties of 

13 the Commission. 

14 (b) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—While away from their 

15 homes or regular places of business in the performance of 

16 services for the Commission, members of a Commission shall 

17 be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of 

18 subsistence, in the same manner as persons employed inter19 mittently in the Government service are allowed expenses 

20 under section 5703(b) of title 5, United States Code. 

21 SEC. 836. SECURITY CLEARANCES FOR COMMISSION MEM22 BERS AND STAFF. 

23 The appropriate Federal agencies or departments shall 

24 cooperate with a Commission in expeditiously providing to 

25 the Commission members and staff appropriate security 
96

•HR 3070 RH 

1 clearances to the extent possible pursuant to existing proce2 dures and requirements. No person shall be provided with 

3 access to classified information under this title without the 

4 appropriate security clearances. 

5 SEC. 837. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS AND TERMINATION. 

6 (a) INTERIM REPORTS.—A Commission may submit 

7 to the President and Congress interim reports containing 

8 such findings, conclusions, and recommendations for correc9 tive actions as have been agreed to by a majority of Com10 mission members. 

11 (b) FINAL REPORT.—A Commission shall submit to 

12 the President and Congress, and make concurrently avail13 able to the public, a final report containing such findings, 

14 conclusions, and recommendations for corrective actions as 

15 have been agreed to by a majority of Commission members. 

16 Such report shall include any minority views or opinions 

17 not reflected in the majority report. 

18 (c) TERMINATION.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—A Commission, and all the 

20 authorities of this title with respect to that Commis21 sion, shall terminate 60 days after the date on which 

22 the final report is submitted under subsection (b). 

23 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIVITIES BEFORE TERMI24 NATION.—A Commission may use the 60-day period 

25 referred to in paragraph (1) for the purpose of con-
97

•HR 3070 RH 

1 cluding its activities, including providing testimony 

2 to committees of Congress concerning its reports and 

3 disseminating the final report. 
Union Calendar No. 108

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3070

[Report No. 109–173] 

A BILL

To reauthorize the human space flight, aeronautics, 

purposes. nautics and Space Administration, and for other and science programs of the National AeroJULY 18, 2005

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union,