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110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2750 

AN ACT 

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins 

in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘NASA 50th Anniver3 sary Commemorative Coin Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 The Congress finds as follows: 

6 (1) The National Aeronautics and Space Ad7 ministration began operation on October 1, 1958, 

8 with about 8,000 employees and an annual budget 

9 of $100,000,000. 

10 (2) Over the next 50 years, the National Aero11 nautics and Space Administration has been involved 

12 in many defining events which have shaped the 

13 course of human history and demonstrated to the 

14 world the character of the people of the United 

15 States. 

16 (3) Among the many firsts by the National Aer17 onautics and Space Administration are the following: 

18 (A) On December 6, 1958, the United 

19 States launched Pioneer 3, the first United 

20 States satellite to ascend to an altitude of 

21 63,580 miles. 

22 (B) On March 3, 1959, the United States 

23 sent Pioneer 4 to the Moon, successfully mak24 ing the first United States lunar flyby. 
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1 (C) On April 1, 1960, the United States 

2 launched TIROS 1, the first successful mete3 orological satellite, observing Earth’s weather. 

4 (D) On May 5, 1961, Freedom 7, carrying 

5 Astronaut Alan B. Shepard, Jr., was the first 

6 American space flight involving human beings. 

7 (E) On February 20, 1962, John Glenn 

8 became the first American to circle the Earth, 

9 making three orbits in his Friendship 7 Mer10 cury spacecraft. 

11 (F) On December 14, 1962, Mariner 2 be12 came the first spacecraft to commit a successful 

13 planetary flyby (Venus). 

14 (G) On April 6, 1965, the United States 

15 launched Intelsat I (also known as Early Bird 

16 1), the first commercial satellite (communica17 tions), into geostationary orbit. 

18 (H) On June 3–7, 1965, the second piloted 

19 Gemini mission, Gemini IV, stayed aloft for 4 

20 days and astronaut Edward H. White II per21 formed the first EVA or spacewalk by an Amer22 ican. 

23 (I) On June 2, 1966, Surveyor 1 became 

24 the first American spacecraft to soft-land on 

25 the Moon. 
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1 (J) On May 31, 1971, the United States 

2 launched Mariner 9, the first mission to orbit 

3 another planet (Mars) beginning November 13, 

4 1971. 

5 (K) On April 12, 1981, the National Aero6 nautics and Space Administration launched the 

7 Space Shuttle Columbia on the first flight of 

8 the Space Transportation System (STS–1). 

9 (L) On June 18, 1983, the National Aero10 nautics and Space Administration launched 

11 Space Shuttle Challenger (STS–7) carrying 3 

12 mission specialists, including Sally K. Ride, the 

13 first woman astronaut. 

14 (M) In another historic mission, 2 months 

15 later the National Aeronautics and Space Ad16 ministration launched STS–8 carrying the first 

17 black American astronaut, Guion S. Bluford. 

18 (N) On July 23, 1999, the Space Shuttle 

19 Columbia’s 26th flight was led by Air Force 

20 Col. Eileen Collins, the first woman to com21 mand a Shuttle mission. 

22 (4) On April 9, 1959, the National Aeronautics 

23 and Space Administration unveiled the Mercury as24 tronaut corps, 7 men with ‘‘the right stuff’’: John 

25 H. Glenn, Jr., Walter M. Schirra, Jr., Alan B. 
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1 Shepard, Jr., M. Scott Carpenter, L. Gordon Coo2 per, Virgil I. ‘‘Gus’’ Grissom, and Donald K. 

3 ‘‘Deke’’ Slayton. 

4 (5) On May 25, 1961, President John F. Ken5 nedy, reflecting the highest aspirations of the Amer6 ican people, proclaimed: ‘‘I believe this Nation 

7 should commit itself to achieving the goal, before 

8 this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon 

9 and returning him safely to Earth. No single space 

10 project in this period will be more impressive to 

11 mankind, or more important in the long-range explo12 ration of space; and none will be so difficult or ex13 pensive to accomplish.’’. 

14 (6) On September 19, 1961, the National Aero15 nautics and Space Administration announced that 

16 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

17 center dedicated to human space flight would be 

18 built in Houston, Texas. 

19 (7) On February 17, 1973, the Manned Space20 craft Center in Houston was renamed the Lyndon 

21 B. Johnson Space Center. 

22 (8) On December 21, 1968, Apollo 8 took off 

23 atop a Saturn V booster from the Kennedy Space 

24 Center for a historic mission to orbit the Moon. 
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1 (9) As Apollo 8 traveled outward, the crew fo2 cused a portable television camera on Earth and for 

3 the first time humanity saw its home from afar, a 

4 tiny, lovely, and fragile ‘‘blue marble’’ hanging in 

5 the blackness of space. 

6 (10) This transmission and viewing of Earth 

7 from a distance was an enormously significant ac8 complishment and united the Nation at a time when 

9 American society was in crisis over Vietnam, race re10 lations, urban problems, and a host of other difficul11 ties. 

12 (11) On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 astronauts 

13 Neil A. Armstrong and Edwin E. Aldrin made the 

14 first lunar landing mission while Michael Collins or15 bited overhead in the Apollo command module. 

16 (12) Armstrong set foot on the surface, telling 

17 the millions of listeners that it was ‘‘one small step 

18 for a man, one giant leap for mankind’’; Aldrin soon 

19 followed and planted an American flag, but omitted 

20 claiming the land for the United States as had rou21 tinely been done during European exploration of the 

22 Americas. 

23 (13) The 2 Moon walkers left behind an Amer24 ican flag and a plaque bearing the inscription: 

25 ‘‘Here Men From The Planet Earth First Set Foot 
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1 Upon the Moon. Jul. 1969 A.D. We Came in Peace 

2 for All Mankind.’’. 

3 (14) On April 24, 1990, the Hubble Space Tel4 escope was launched into space aboard the STS-31 

5 mission of the Space Shuttle Discovery and since 

6 then the Hubble has revolutionized astronomy while 

7 expanding our knowledge of the universe and inspir8 ing millions of scientists, students, and members of 

9 the public with its unprecedented deep and clear im10 ages of space. 

11 (15) On July 4, 1997, the Mars Pathfinder 

12 landed on Mars and on January 29, 1998, an Inter13 national Space Station agreement among 15 coun14 tries met in Washington, DC, to sign agreements to 

15 establish the framework for cooperation among the 

16 partners on the design, development, operation, and 

17 utilization of the Space Station. 

18 (16) The National Aeronautics and Space Ad19 ministration’s stunning achievements over the last 

20 50 years have been won for all mankind at great 

21 cost and sacrifice; in the quest to explore the uni22 verse, many National Aeronautics and Space Admin23 istration employees have lost their lives, including 

24 the crews of Apollo 1, the Space Shuttle Challenger, 

25 and the Space Shuttle Columbia. 
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1 (17) The success of the United States space ex2 ploration program in the 20th Century augurs well 

3 for its continued leadership in the 21st Century; this 

4 leadership is attributable to the remarkable and in5 dispensable partnership between the National Aero6 nautics and Space Administration and its 10 space 

7 and research centers as follows: 

8 (A) From small spacecraft to supercom9 puters, science missions and payloads to ther10 mal protection systems, information technology 

11 to aerospace, the Ames Research Center in 

12 California’s Silicon Valley provides products, 

13 technologies, and services that enable NASA 

14 missions and expand human knowledge. 

15 (B) The Dryden Flight Research Center, 

16 the leading center for innovative flight research. 

17 (C) The Glenn Research Center, which de18 velops power, propulsion, and communication 

19 technologies for space flight systems and aero20 nautics research. 

21 (D) The Goddard Space Flight Center, 

22 which specializes in research to expand knowl23 edge on the Earth and its environment, the 

24 solar system, and the universe through observa25 tions from space. 
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1 (E) The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the 

2 leading center for robotic exploration of the 

3 Solar System. 

4 (F) The Johnson Space Center, which 

5 manages the development, testing, production, 

6 and delivery of all United States human space7 craft and all human spacecraft-related func8 tions. 

9 (G) The Kennedy Space Center, the gate10 way to the Universe and world leader in pre11 paring and launching missions around the 

12 Earth and beyond. 

13 (H) The Langley Research Center, which 

14 continues to forge new frontiers in aviation and 

15 space research for aerospace, atmospheric 

16 sciences, and technology commercialization to 

17 improve the way the world lives. 

18 (I) The Marshall Space Flight Center, a 

19 world leader in developing space transportation 

20 and propulsion systems, engineers the future to 

21 accelerate exploration and scientific discovery. 

22 (J) The Stennis Space Center, which is re23 sponsible for rocket propulsion testing and for 

24 partnering with industry to develop and imple25 ment remote sensing technology. 
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1 (18) The United States should pay tribute to 

2 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 

3 and to its successful partnerships with the space and 

4 research centers, by minting and issuing a com5 memorative silver dollar coin. 

6 (19) The surcharge proceeds from the sale of a 

7 commemorative coin would generate valuable fund8 ing for the National Aeronautics and Space Admin9 istration Families Assistance Fund for the purposes 

10 of providing need-based financial assistance to the 

11 families of the National Aeronautics and Space Ad12 ministration personnel who die as a result of injuries 

13 suffered in the performance of their official duties. 

14 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 

15 (a) DENOMINATIONS.—In commemoration of the 

16 50th anniversary of the establishment of the National Aer17 onautics and Space Administration, the Secretary of the 

18 Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Sec19 retary’’) shall mint and issue the following coins: 

20 (1) $50 GOLD COINS.—Not more than 50,000 

21 $50 gold coins which shall— 

22 (A) weigh 33.931 grams; 

23 (B) have a diameter of 32.7 millimeters; 

24 and 

25 (C) contain 1 troy ounce of fine gold. 
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1 (2) $1 SILVER COINS.—Not more than 300,000 

2 $1 coins of each of the 9 designs specified in section 

3 3(a)(3)(B), which shall— 

4 (A) weigh 26.73 grams; 

5 (B) have a diameter of 1.500 inches; and 

6 (C) contain 90 percent silver and 10 per7 cent copper. 

8 (b) LEGAL TENDER.—The coins minted under this 

9 Act shall be legal tender, as provided in section 5103 of 

10 title 31, United States Code. 

11 (c) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of section 

12 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all coins minted 

13 under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items. 

14 (d) MINTAGE LEVEL LIMIT.—Notwithstanding the 

15 mintage level limit described under section 

16 5112(m)(2)(A)(ii) of title 31, United States Code, the Sec17 retary of the Treasury may mint and issue not more than 

18 300,000 of each of the 9 $1 coins authorized to be minted 

19 under this Act. 

20 SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS. 

21 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The design of the coins 

23 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the 50 

24 years of exemplary and unparalleled achievements of 

25 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. 
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1 (2) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On 

2 each coin minted under this Act there shall be— 

3 (A) a designation of the value of the coin; 

4 (B) an inscription of the year ‘‘2008’’; and 

5 (C) inscriptions of the words ‘‘Liberty’’, 

6 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer7 ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’, and such other 

8 inscriptions as the Secretary may determine to 

9 be appropriate for the designs of the coins. 

10 (3) COIN IMAGES.— 

11 (A) $50 COINS.— 

12 (i) OBVERSE.—The obverse of the 

13 $50 coins issued under this Act shall bear 

14 an image of the sun. 

15 (ii) REVERSE.—The reverse of the 

16 $50 coins issued under this Act shall bear 

17 a design emblematic of the sacrifice of the 

18 United States astronauts who lost their 

19 lives in the line of duty over the course of 

20 the space program. 

21 (iii) HIGH RELIEF.—The design and 

22 inscriptions on the obverse and reverse of 

23 the $50 coins issued under this Act shall 

24 be in high relief. 

25 (B) $1 COINS.— 
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1 (i) OBVERSE.—The obverse of the $1 

2 coins issued under this Act shall bear 9 

3 different designs each of which shall con4 sist of an image of 1 of the 9 planets of 

5 the solar system, including Earth. 

6 (ii) REVERSE.—The reverse of the $1 

7 coins issued under this Act shall bear dif8 ferent designs each of which shall be em9 blematic of the contributions of the re10 search and space centers, subject to the 

11 following requirements: 

12 (I) EARTH COIN.—The reverse of 

13 the $1 coins issued under this Act 

14 which bear an image of the Earth on 

15 the obverse shall bear images emblem16 atic of, and honoring, the discoveries 

17 and missions of the National Aero18 nautics and Space Administration, the 

19 Mercury, Gemini and Space Shuttle 

20 missions and other manned Earth-or21 biting missions, and the Apollo mis22 sions to the Moon. 

23 (II) JUPITER COIN.—The reverse 

24 of the $1 coins issued under this Act 

25 which bear an image of the planet Ju-
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1 piter on the obverse shall include a 

2 scientifically accurate depiction of the 

3 Galilean moon Europa and depict 

4 both a past and future mission to Eu5 ropa. 

6 (III) SATURN COIN.—The reverse 

7 of the $1 coins issued under this Act 

8 which bear an image of the planet 

9 Saturn on the obverse shall include a 

10 scientifically accurate depiction of the 

11 moon Titan and depict both a past 

12 and a future mission to Titan. 

13 (IV) PLUTO (AND OTHER DWARF

14 PLANETS) COIN.—The reverse of the 

15 $1 coins issued under this Act which 

16 bear an image of the planet Pluto on 

17 the obverse shall include a design that 

18 is emblematic of telescopic exploration 

19 of deep space by the National Aero20 nautics and Space Administration and 

21 the ongoing search for Earth-like 

22 planets orbiting other stars. 

23 (4) REALISTIC AND SCIENTIFICALLY ACCURATE

24 DEPICTIONS.—The images for the designs of coins 

25 issued under this Act shall be selected on the basis 
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1 of the realism and scientific accuracy of the images 

2 and on the extent to which the images are reminis3 cent of the dramatic and beautiful artwork on coins 

4 of the so-called ‘‘Golden Age of Coinage’’ in the 

5 United States, at the beginning of the Twentieth 

6 Century, with the participation of such noted sculp7 tors and medallic artists as James Earle Fraser, Au8 gustus Saint-Gaudens, Victor David Brenner, Ad9 olph A. Weinman, Charles E. Barber, and George T. 

10 Morgan. 

11 (b) SELECTION.—The design for the coins minted 

12 under this Act shall be— 

13 (1) selected by the Secretary after consultation 

14 with the Administrator of the National Aeronautics 

15 and Space Administration and the Commission of 

16 Fine Arts; and 

17 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Coin Advisory 

18 Committee. 

19 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 

20 (a) QUALITY OF COINS.—Coins minted under this 

21 Act shall be issued in proof quality only. 

22 (b) MINT FACILITY.—Only 1 facility of the United 

23 States Mint may be used to strike any particular combina24 tion of denomination and quality of the coins minted under 

25 this Act. 
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1 (c) PERIOD FOR ISSUANCE.—The Secretary may 

2 issue coins minted under this Act only during the 1-year 

3 period beginning on January 1, 2008. 

4 (d) ISSUANCE OF GOLD COINS.—Each gold coin 

5 minted under this Act may be issued only as part of a 

6 complete set with 1 of each of the 9 $1 coins minted under 

7 this Act. 

8 SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS. 

9 (a) SALE PRICE.—The coins issued under this Act 

10 shall be sold by the Secretary at a price equal to the sum 

11 of— 

12 (1) the face value of the coins; 

13 (2) the surcharge provided in section 7(a) with 

14 respect to such coins; and 

15 (3) the cost of designing and issuing the coins 

16 (including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, 

17 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping). 

18 (b) PREPAID ORDERS.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall accept 

20 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 

21 before the issuance of such coins. 

22 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre23 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea24 sonable discount. 
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1 (c) PRESENTATION.—In addition to the issuance of 

2 coins under this Act in such other methods of presentation 

3 as the Secretary of the Treasury determines to be appro4 priate, the Secretary shall provide, as a sale option, a pres5 entation case which displays the $50 gold coin in the cen6 ter surrounded by the $1 silver coins in elliptical orbits. 

7 All such presentation cases shall bear a plaque with appro8 priate inscriptions that include the names and dates of the 

9 spacecraft missions on which United States astronauts 

10 lost their lives over the course of the space program and 

11 the names of such astronauts. 

12 SEC. 7. SURCHARGES. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—All sales of coins minted under 

14 this Act shall include a surcharge as follows: 

15 (1) A surcharge of $50 per coin for the $50 

16 coin. 

17 (2) A surcharge of $10 per coin for the $1 coin. 

18 (b) DISTRIBUTION.—Subject to section 5134(f) of 

19 title 31, United States Code, all surcharges received by 

20 the Secretary from the sale of coins issued under this Act 

21 shall be promptly distributed as follows: 

22 (1) The first $4,000,000 available for distribu23 tion under this section, to the NASA Family Assist24 ance Fund for the purposes of providing need-based 

25 financial assistance to the families of NASA per-
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1 sonnel who die as a result of injuries suffered in the 

2 performance of their official duties. 

3 (2) Of amounts available for distribution after 

the payment under paragraph (1), 1 4 ⁄2 of the next 

5 $1,000,000 to each of the following: 

6 (A) The Dr. Ronald E. McNair Edu7 cational (D.R.E.M.E.) Science Literacy Foun8 dation for the purposes of improving and 

9 strengthening the process of teaching and 

10 learning science, math, and technology at all 

11 educational levels, elementary through college 

12 through the promotion of innovative educational 

13 programs. 

14 (B) The Dorothy Jemison Foundation for 

15 Excellence for the purposes of supporting the 

16 work of the Foundation in building critical 

17 thinking skills, experiential teaching methods, 

18 science literacy, and integrated approaches to 

19 learning and individual responsibility in achiev20 ing excellence. 

21 (3) The remainder of the amounts available for 

22 distribution after the payments under paragraphs 

23 (1) and (2), to the Secretary of the Smithsonian In24 stitution for the preservation, maintenance, and dis25 play of space artifacts at the National Air and Space 
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1 Museum (including the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Cen2 ter). 

3 (c) AUDITS.—The NASA Family Assistance Fund, 

4 the Dr. Ronald E. McNair Educational Science Literacy 

5 Foundation, the Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excel6 lence, and the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution 

7 shall be subject to the audit requirements of section 

8 5134(f)(2) of title 31, United States Code, with regard 

9 to the amounts received under subsection (b). 

10 (d) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), 

11 no surcharge may be included with respect to the issuance 

12 under this Act of any coin during a calendar year if, as 

13 of the time of such issuance, the issuance of such coin 

14 would result in the number of commemorative coin pro15 grams issued during such year to exceed the annual 2 

16 commemorative coin program issuance limitation under 

17 section 5112(m)(1) of title 31, United States Code (as in 

18 effect on the date of the enactment of this Act). The Sec19 retary of the Treasury may issue guidance to carry out 

20 this subsection. 

21 SEC. 8. BRONZE DUPLICATES. 

22 The Secretary may strike and sell bronze duplicates 

23 of the $50 gold coins authorized under this Act, at a price 

24 the Secretary determines to be appropriate. Such dupli-
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1 cates shall not be considered to be United States coins 

2 and shall not be legal tender. 

Passed the House of Representatives July 30, 2007. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2750 

AN ACT 

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint 

and Space Administration. of the establishment of the National Aeronautics coins in commemoration of the 50th anniversary