I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 255 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 7, 2009 

Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas (for herself, Mr. CULBERSON, and Mr. CUELLAR) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘NASA 50th Anniver5 sary Commemorative Coin Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) the National Aeronautics and Space Admin2 istration began operation on October 1, 1958, with 

3 about 8,000 employees and an annual budget of 

4 $100,000,000; 

5 (2) over the next 50 years, the National Aero6 nautics and Space Administration has been involved 

7 in many defining events which have shaped the 

8 course of human history and demonstrated to the 

9 world the character of the people of the United 

10 States; 

11 (3) among the many firsts by the National Aer12 onautics and Space Administration are that— 

13 (A) on December 6, 1958, the United 

14 States launched Pioneer 3, the first United 

15 States satellite to ascend to an altitude of 

16 63,580 miles; 

17 (B) on March 3, 1959, the United States 

18 sent Pioneer 4 to the Moon, successfully mak19 ing the first United States lunar flyby; 

20 (C) on April 1, 1960, the United States 

21 launched TIROS 1, the first successful mete22 orological satellite, observing Earth’s weather; 

23 (D) on May 5, 1961, Freedom 7, carrying 

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

25 American space flight involving human beings; 


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1 (E) on February 20, 1962, John Glenn be2 came the first American to circle the Earth, 

3 making 3 orbits in his Friendship 7 Mercury 

4 spacecraft; 

5 (F) on December 14, 1962, Mariner 2 be6 came the first spacecraft to commit a successful 

7 planetary flyby (Venus); 

8 (G) on April 6, 1965, the United States 

9 launched Intelsat I (also known as Early Bird 

10 1), the first commercial satellite (communica11 tions), into geostationary orbit; 

12 (H) on June 3 through 7, 1965, the sec13 ond piloted Gemini mission, Gemini IV, stayed 

14 aloft for 4 days, and astronaut Edward H. 

15 White II performed the first EVA or 

16 ‘‘spacewalk’’ by an American; 

17 (I) on June 2, 1966, Surveyor 1 became 

18 the first American spacecraft to soft-land on 

19 the Moon; 

20 (J) on May 31, 1971, the United States 

21 launched Mariner 9, the first mission to orbit 

22 another planet (Mars) beginning November 13, 

23 1971; 

24 (K) on April 12, 1981, the National Aero25 nautics and Space Administration launched the 


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1 Space Shuttle Columbia on the first flight of 

2 the Space Transportation System (STS–1); 

3 (L) on June 18, 1983, the National Aero4 nautics and Space Administration launched 

5 Space Shuttle Challenger (STS–7) carrying 3 

6 mission specialists, including Sally K. Ride, the 

7 first woman astronaut; 

8 (M) in another historic mission, 2 months 

9 later, the National Aeronautics and Space Ad10 ministration launched STS–8 carrying the first 

11 black American astronaut, Guion S. Bluford; 

12 and 

13 (N) on July 23, 1999, the Space Shuttle 

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

15 Col. Eileen Collins, the first woman to com16 mand a Shuttle mission; 

17 (4) on April 9, 1959, the National Aeronautics 

18 and Space Administration unveiled the Mercury as19 tronaut corps, 7 men with ‘‘the right stuff’’: John 

20 H. Glenn, Jr., Walter M. Schirra, Jr., Alan B. 

21 Shepard, Jr., M. Scott Carpenter, L. Gordon Coo22 per, Virgil I. ‘‘Gus’’ Grissom, and Donald K. 

23 ‘‘Deke’’ Slayton; 

24 (5) on May 25, 1961, President John F. Ken25 nedy, reflecting the highest aspirations of the AmerVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:26 Jan 12, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H255.IH H255

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1 ican people, proclaimed: ‘‘I believe this Nation 

2 should commit itself to achieving the goal, before 

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

4 and returning him safely to Earth. No single space 

5 project in this period will be more impressive to 

6 mankind, or more important in the long-range explo7 ration of space; and none will be so difficult or ex8 pensive to accomplish.’’; 

9 (6) on September 19, 1961, the National Aero10 nautics and Space Administration announced that 

11 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

12 center dedicated to human space flight would be 

13 built in Houston, Texas; 

14 (7) on February 17, 1973, the Manned Space15 craft Center in Houston was renamed the Lyndon 

16 B. Johnson Space Center; 

17 (8) on December 21, 1968, Apollo 8 took off 

18 atop a Saturn V booster from the Kennedy Space 

19 Center for a historic mission to orbit the Moon; 

20 (9) as Apollo 8 traveled outward, the crew fo21 cused a portable television camera on Earth and for 

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

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

24 the blackness of space; 


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1 (10) this transmission and viewing of Earth 

2 from a distance was an enormously significant ac3 complishment and united the Nation at a time when 

4 American society was in crisis over Vietnam, race re5 lations, urban problems, and a host of other difficul6 ties; 

7 (11) on July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 astronauts 

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

9 first lunar landing mission while Michael Collins or10 bited overhead in the Apollo command module; 

11 (12) Armstrong set foot on the surface of the 

12 Moon, telling the millions of listeners that it was 

13 ‘‘one small step for a man, one giant leap for man14 kind’’, and Aldrin soon followed and planted an 

15 American flag, but omitted claiming the land for the 

16 United States, as had routinely been done during 

17 European exploration of the Americas; 

18 (13) the two Moon walkers left behind an 

19 American flag and a plaque bearing the inscription: 

20 ‘‘Here Men From The Planet Earth First Set Foot 

21 Upon the Moon. Jul. 1969 A.D. We Came in Peace 

22 for All Mankind.’’; 

23 (14) on April 24, 1990, the Hubble Space Tele24 scope was launched into space aboard the STS–31 

25 mission of the Space Shuttle Discovery, and since 


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1 then, the Hubble has revolutionized astronomy, while 

2 expanding our knowledge of the universe and inspir3 ing millions of scientists, students, and members of 

4 the public with its unprecedented deep and clear im5 ages of space; 

6 (15) on July 4, 1997, the Mars Pathfinder 

7 landed on Mars and on January 29, 1998, an Inter8 national Space Station agreement among 15 coun9 tries met in Washington, DC, to sign agreements to 

10 establish the framework for cooperation among the 

11 partners on the design, development, operation, and 

12 utilization of the Space Station; 

13 (16) the National Aeronautics and Space Ad14 ministration’s stunning achievements over the last 

15 50 years have been won for all mankind at great 

16 cost and sacrifice; in the quest to explore the uni17 verse, many National Aeronautics and Space Admin18 istration employees have lost their lives, including 

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

20 and the Space Shuttle Columbia; 

21 (17) the success of the United States space ex22 ploration program in the 20th Century augurs well 

23 for its continued leadership in the 21st Century, 

24 such leadership being attributable to the remarkable 

25 and indispensable partnership between the National 


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1 Aeronautics and Space Administration and its 10 

2 space and research centers, including— 

3 (A) from small spacecraft to supercom4 puters, science missions and payloads to ther5 mal protection systems, information technology 

6 to aerospace, the Ames Research Center in 

7 California’s Silicon Valley, which provides prod8 ucts, technologies, and services that enable 

9 NASA missions and expand human knowledge; 

10 (B) the Dryden Flight Research Center, 

11 the leading center for innovative flight research; 

12 (C) the Glenn Research Center, which de13 velops power, propulsion, and communication 

14 technologies for space flight systems and aero15 nautics research; 

16 (D) the Goddard Space Flight Center, 

17 which specializes in research to expand knowl18 edge on the Earth and its environment, the 

19 solar system, and the universe through observa20 tions from space; 

21 (E) the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the 

22 leading center for robotic exploration of the 

23 solar system; 

24 (F) the Johnson Space Center, which man25 ages the development, testing, production, and 


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1 delivery of all United States human spacecraft 

2 and all human spacecraft-related functions; 

3 (G) the Kennedy Space Center, the gate4 way to the Universe and world leader in pre5 paring and launching missions around the 

6 Earth and beyond; 

7 (H) the Langley Research Center, which 

8 continues to forge new frontiers in aviation and 

9 space research for aerospace, atmospheric 

10 sciences, and technology commercialization to 

11 improve the way the world lives; 

12 (I) the Marshall Space Flight Center, a 

13 world leader in developing space transportation 

14 and propulsion systems that accelerate explo15 ration and scientific discovery, including the 

16 Michoud Assembly Facility, which has been a 

17 world-class facility since 1961 for fabrication of 

18 large space structures, including the Saturn V 

19 and the Space Shuttle External Tank, and 

20 which will have a critical role in the Constella21 tion program, including manufacturing major 

22 pieces of the Orion crew capsule, the Ares I 

23 upper stage, and the Ares V core stage; and 

24 (J) the Stennis Space Center, which is re25 sponsible for rocket propulsion testing and for 


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1 partnering with industry to develop and imple2 ment remote sensing technology; 

3 (18) the United States should pay tribute to 

4 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 

5 and to its successful partnerships with the space and 

6 research centers, by minting and issuing a com7 memorative silver dollar coin; and 

8 (19) the surcharge proceeds from the sale of a 

9 commemorative coin would generate valuable fund10 ing for the National Aeronautics and Space Admin11 istration Families Assistance Fund, for the purposes 

12 of providing need-based financial assistance to the 

13 families of any National Aeronautics and Space Ad14 ministration personnel who lose their lives as a re15 sult of injuries suffered in the performance of their 

16 official duties, and for other worthy and important 

17 purposes. 

18 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 

19 (a) DENOMINATIONS.—In commemoration of the 

20 50th anniversary of the establishment of the National Aer21 onautics and Space Administration, the Secretary of the 

22 Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Sec23 retary’’) shall mint and issue the following coins: 

24 (1) $50 GOLD COINS.—Not more than 50,000 

25 $50 gold coins, which shall— 


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1 (A) weigh 33.931 grams; 

2 (B) have a diameter of 32.7 millimeters; 

3 and 

4 (C) contain 1 troy ounce of fine gold. 

5 (2) $1 SILVER COINS.—Not more than 300,000 

6 $1 coins of each of the 9 designs specified in section 

7 4(a)(3)(B), which shall— 

8 (A) weigh 26.73 grams; 

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

10 (C) contain 90 percent silver and 10 per11 cent copper. 

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

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

14 title 31, United States Code. 

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

16 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all coins minted 

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

18 (d) MINTAGE LEVEL LIMIT.—Notwithstanding the 

19 mintage level limit described under section 

20 5112(m)(2)(A)(ii) of title 31, United States Code, the Sec21 retary may mint and issue not more than 300,000 of each 

22 of the nine $1 coins authorized to be minted under this 

23 Act. 

24 SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS. 

25 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.— 


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

2 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the 50 

3 years of exemplary and unparalleled achievements of 

4 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. 

5 (2) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On 

6 each coin minted under this Act, there shall be— 

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

8 (B) an inscription of the year ‘‘2011’’; and 

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

10 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer11 ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’, and such other 

12 inscriptions as the Secretary may determine to 

13 be appropriate for the designs of the coins. 

14 (3) COIN IMAGES.— 

15 (A) $50 COINS.— 

16 (i) OBVERSE.—The obverse of the 

17 $50 coins issued under this Act shall bear 

18 an image of the sun. 

19 (ii) REVERSE.—The reverse of the 

20 $50 coins issued under this Act shall bear 

21 a design emblematic of the sacrifice of the 

22 United States astronauts who lost their 

23 lives in the line of duty over the course of 

24 the space program. 


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1 (iii) HIGH RELIEF.—The design and 

2 inscriptions on the obverse and reverse of 

3 the $50 coins issued under this Act shall 

4 be in high relief. 

5 (B) $1 COINS.— 

6 (i) OBVERSE.—The obverse of the $1 

7 coins issued under this Act shall bear nine 

8 different designs, each of which shall con9 sist of an image of one of the nine planets 

10 of the solar system, including Earth. 

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

12 coins issued under this Act shall bear dif13 ferent designs, each of which shall be em14 blematic of the contributions of the re15 search and space centers, subject to the 

16 following requirements: 

17 (I) EARTH COIN.—The reverse of 

18 the $1 coins issued under this Act 

19 which bear an image of the Earth on 

20 the obverse shall bear images emblem21 atic of, and honoring, the discoveries 

22 and missions of the National Aero23 nautics and Space Administration, the 

24 Mercury, Gemini, and Space Shuttle 

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1 biting missions, and the Apollo mis2 sions to the Moon. 

3 (II) JUPITER COIN.—The reverse 

4 of the $1 coins issued under this Act 

5 which bear an image of the planet Ju6 piter on the obverse shall include a 

7 scientifically accurate depiction of the 

8 Galilean moon Europa and depict 

9 both a past and future mission to Eu10 ropa. 

11 (III) SATURN COIN.—The reverse 

12 of the $1 coins issued under this Act 

13 which bear an image of the planet 

14 Saturn on the obverse shall include a 

15 scientifically accurate depiction of the 

16 moon Titan and depict both a past 

17 and a future mission to Titan. 

18 (IV) PLUTO (AND OTHER DWARF

19 PLANETS) COIN.—The reverse of the 

20 $1 coins issued under this Act which 

21 bear an image of the planet Pluto on 

22 the obverse shall include a design that 

23 is emblematic of telescopic exploration 

24 of deep space by the National Aero25 nautics and Space Administration and 


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1 the ongoing search for Earth-like 

2 planets orbiting other stars. 

3 (4) REALISTIC AND SCIENTIFICALLY ACCURATE

4 DEPICTIONS.—The images for the designs of coins 

5 issued under this Act shall be selected on the basis 

6 of the realism and scientific accuracy of the images 

7 and on the extent to which the images are reminis8 cent of the dramatic and beautiful artwork on coins 

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

10 United States, at the beginning of the Twentieth 

11 Century, with the participation of such noted sculp12 tors and medallic artists as James Earle Fraser, Au13 gustus Saint-Gaudens, Victor David Brenner, Ad14 olph A. Weinman, Charles E. Barber, and George T. 

15 Morgan. 

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

17 under this Act shall be— 

18 (1) selected by the Secretary, after consultation 

19 with the Administrator of the National Aeronautics 

20 and Space Administration and the Commission of 

21 Fine Arts; and 

22 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Coin Advisory 

23 Committee. 


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1 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 

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

3 Act shall be issued in proof quality only. 

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

5 States Mint may be used to strike any particular combina6 tion of denomination and quality of the coins minted under 

7 this Act. 

8 (c) PERIOD FOR ISSUANCE.—Notwithstanding any 

9 other provision of law, the Secretary— 

10 (1) may accept orders for the coins authorized 

11 under this Act during the period beginning on Janu12 ary 1, 2011 and ending on December 31, 2011; and 

13 (2) may mint and issue such coins required to 

14 fulfill such orders during the period beginning on 

15 January 1, 2011 and ending on December 31, 2011. 

16 (d) EXCEPTION TO PROGRAM LIMITATION.—Not17 withstanding any other provision of law, the minting or 

18 issuance of coins under this Act in 2011 shall not— 

19 (1) preclude the Secretary from including a sur20 charge on the issuance of any other commemorative 

21 coin minted or issued in 2011; and 

22 (2) be counted against the annual 2 commemo23 rative coin program minting and issuance limitation 

24 under section 5112(m)(1) of title 31, United States 

25 Code. 


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1 (e) ISSUANCE OF GOLD COINS.—Each gold coin 

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

3 complete set with one of each of the nine $1 coins minted 

4 under this Act. 

5 SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS. 

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

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

8 of— 

9 (1) the face value of the coins; 

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

11 respect to such coins; and 

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

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

14 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping). 

15 (b) PREPAID ORDERS.— 

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

17 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 

18 before the issuance of such coins. 

19 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre20 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea21 sonable discount. 

22 (c) PRESENTATION.—In addition to the issuance of 

23 coins under this Act in such other methods of presentation 

24 as the Secretary determines to be appropriate, the Sec25 retary shall provide, as a sale option, a presentation case 


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1 which displays the $50 gold coin in the center, surrounded 

2 by the $1 silver coins in elliptical orbits. All such presen3 tation cases shall bear a plaque with appropriate inscrip4 tions that include the names and dates of the spacecraft 

5 missions on which United States astronauts lost their lives 

6 over the course of the space program and the names of 

7 such astronauts. 

8 SEC. 7. SURCHARGES. 

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

10 this Act shall include a surcharge as follows: 

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

12 coin. 

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

14 (3) A surcharge of $1 per coin for any bronze 

15 duplicate minted under section 8. 

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

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

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

19 shall be promptly distributed as follows: 

20 (1) The first $4,000,000 available for distribu21 tion under this section, to the NASA Family Assist22 ance Fund, for the purpose of providing need-based 

23 financial assistance to the families of NASA per24 sonnel who lose their lives as a result of injuries suf25 fered in the performance of their official duties. 


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1 (2) Of amounts available for distribution after 

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

3 $1,000,000 to each of the following: 

4 (A) The Dr. Ronald E. McNair Edu5 cational (D.R.E.M.E.) Science Literacy Foun6 dation for the purposes of improving and 

7 strengthening the process of teaching and 

8 learning science, math, and technology at all 

9 educational levels, elementary through college 

10 through the promotion of innovative educational 

11 programs. 

12 (B) The Challenger Center for Space 

13 Science Education, for the purposes of creating 

14 positive learning experiences using space science 

15 as a theme that raise student expectations of 

16 success, fostering a long-term interest in mathe17 matics, science, and technology, and motivating 

18 students to pursue careers in these fields. 

19 (3) The remainder of the amounts available for 

20 distribution after the payments under paragraphs 

21 (1) and (2), to the Secretary of the Smithsonian In22 stitution for the preservation, maintenance, and dis23 play of space artifacts at the National Air and Space 

24 Museum (including the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Cen25 ter). 


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

2 the Dr. Ronald E. McNair Educational Science Literacy 

3 Foundation, the Challenger Center for Space Science Edu4 cation, and the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution 

5 shall be subject to the audit requirements of section 

6 5134(f)(2) of title 31, United States Code, with regard 

7 to the amounts received under subsection (b). 

8 SEC. 8. BRONZE DUPLICATES. 

9 The Secretary may strike and sell bronze duplicates 

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

11 determined by the Secretary to be appropriate. Such dupli12 cates shall not be considered to be United States coins 

13 and shall not be legal tender. 

Æ 


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