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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8837 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8837

  To require the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space 
  Administration to develop celestial time standardization to support 
 future operations and infrastructure on and around the Moon and other 
       celestial bodies other than Earth, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 26, 2024

Ms. McClellan introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
              Committee on Science, Space, and Technology

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
  To require the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space 
  Administration to develop celestial time standardization to support 
 future operations and infrastructure on and around the Moon and other 
       celestial bodies other than Earth, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Celestial Time Standardization 
Act''.

SEC. 2. CELESTIAL TIME STANDARDIZATION.

    (a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) United States leadership of a sustained presence on the 
        Moon and in deep space exploration is important for advancing 
        science, exploration, commercial growth, and international 
        partnership;
            (2) the Artemis and Moon to Mars program of the National 
        Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will involve 
        governmental, commercial, academic, and international partners 
        where there is a need for interoperability between systems;
            (3) the use of Coordinated Universal Time has challenges 
        when used beyond Earth at other celestial bodies, due to 
        relativistic effects;
            (4) the United States should lead in developing time 
        standardization for the Moon and other celestial bodies other 
        than Earth to support interoperability and safe and sustainable 
        operations; and
            (5) development of such standardization will advance United 
        States leadership in standards setting for global 
        competitiveness, and will benefit other spacefaring countries 
        and entities.
    (b) Development of Celestial Time Standardization.--The 
Administrator of NASA, in consultation with the Director of the Office 
of Science and Technology Policy, shall carry out the following:
            (1) Enable the development of celestial time 
        standardization, including by leading the study and definition 
        of a coordinated lunar time.
            (2) Develop a strategy to implement a coordinated lunar 
        time that would support future operations and infrastructure on 
        and around the Moon.
            (3) In carrying out paragraphs (1) and (2)--
                    (A) coordinate with relevant Federal entities, 
                including the Department of Commerce, the Department of 
                Defense, the Department of State, and the Department of 
                Transportation; and
                    (B) consult with--
                            (i) relevant private sector entities;
                            (ii) relevant academic entities; and
                            (iii) relevant international standards 
                        setting bodies.
            (4) Incorporate the following features of a coordinated 
        lunar time, to the extent practicable, in the development of 
        the strategy developed pursuant to paragraph (2):
                    (A) Traceability to Coordinated Universal Time.
                    (B) Accuracy sufficient to support precision 
                navigation and science.
                    (C) Resilience to loss of contact with Earth.
                    (D) Scalability to space environments beyond the 
                Earth-Moon system.
    (c) Report.--Not later than two years after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Administrator of NASA shall submit to the 
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation of the Senate a report describing the strategy developed 
pursuant to subsection (b)(2), including relevant plans, timelines, and 
resources required for the implementation of a coordinated lunar time 
pursuant to such strategy.
                                 <all>
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