I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5781 

To authorize the programs of the National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 20, 2010 

Mr. GORDON of Tennessee (for himself, Mr. HALL of Texas, Ms. GIFFORDS, 

and Mr. OLSON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Science and Technology 

A BILL 

To authorize the 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘National Aeronautics and Space Administration Author6 ization Act of 2010’’. 

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

8 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

Sec. 3. Definitions. 


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TITLE I—AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS 

Sec. 101. Fiscal year 2011. 

Sec. 102. Fiscal year 2012. 

Sec. 103. Fiscal year 2013. 

Sec. 104. Fiscal year 2014. 

Sec. 105. Fiscal year 2015. 

TITLE II—HUMAN SPACE FLIGHT 

Subtitle A—Exploration 

Sec. 201. Reaffirmation of exploration policy. 

Sec. 202. Restructured Exploration program. 

Sec. 203. Space radiation. 

Subtitle B—International Space Station 

Sec. 211. Extension of ISS operations. 

Sec. 212. ISS research management institution. 

Sec. 213. ISS research management plan. 

Sec. 214. Outreach plan for United States ISS research. 

Sec. 215. ISS cargo resupply requirements and contingency capacity through 

2020. 

Sec. 216. Centrifuge. 

Sec. 217. Exploration technology development using the ISS. 

Sec. 218. Fundamental space life science and physical sciences and related 

technology research. 

Subtitle C—Space Shuttle 

Sec. 221. Expanded scope of Space Shuttle Transition Liaison Office. 

Sec. 222. Post-Shuttle workforce transition initiative grant program. 

Sec. 223. Disposition of orbiter vehicles. 

Subtitle D—Space and Flight Support 

Sec. 231. 21st Century Space Launch Complex Initiative. 

Subtitle E—Commercial Crew Transportation 

Sec. 241. Affirmation of policy. 

Sec. 242. Commercial crew and related commercial space initiatives. 

Sec. 243. Federal assistance for the development of commercial orbital human 

space transportation services. 

TITLE III—SCIENCE 

Subtitle A—Earth Science 

Sec. 301. Earth science applications. 

Sec. 302. Essential space-based Earth science and climate measurements. 

Sec. 303. Commercial remote sensing data purchases pilot project. 

Subtitle B—Space Science 

Sec. 311. Suborbital programs. 

Sec. 312. Explorer program. 


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Sec. 313. Radioisotope thermoelectric generator material requirements and supply. 

TITLE IV—AERONAUTICS 

Sec. 401. Environmentally friendly aircraft research and development initiative. 

Sec. 402. Research on NextGen airspace management concepts and tools. 

Sec. 403. Research on aircraft cabin air quality. 

Sec. 404. Research on on-board volcanic ash sensor systems. 

Sec. 405. Aeronautics test facilities. 

Sec. 406. Expanded research program on composite materials used in aerospace. 

TITLE V—SPACE TECHNOLOGY 

Sec. 501. Space technology program. 

TITLE VI—EDUCATION AND OUTREACH 

Sec. 601. STEM education and training. 

Sec. 602. Assessment of impediments to space science and engineering workforce development for minority and underrepresented groups at 

NASA. 

Sec. 603. Independent review of the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program. 

TITLE VII—INSTITUTIONAL CAPABILITIES REVITALIZATION 

Sec. 701. Institutional management. 

Sec. 702. James E. Webb Cooperative Education Distinguished Scholar Program. 

TITLE VIII—ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT 

Sec. 801. Prohibition on expenditure of funds when 30 percent threshold is exceeded. 

Sec. 802. Project and program reserves. 

Sec. 803. Independent reviews. 

Sec. 804. Avoiding organizational conflicts of interest in major NASA acquisition programs. 

Sec. 805. Report to Congress. 

TITLE IX—OTHER PROVISIONS 

Sec. 901. Cloud computing. 

Sec. 902. Review of practices to detect and prevent the use of counterfeit parts. 

Sec. 903. Preservation and management of lunar sites. 

Sec. 904. Continuity of moderate resolution land imaging remote sensing data. 

Sec. 905. Space weather. 

Sec. 906. Use of operational commercial suborbital vehicles for research, development, and education. 

Sec. 907. Study on export control matters related to United States astronaut 

safety and NASA mission operations. 

Sec. 908. Amendment to the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958. 

Sec. 909. Near-Earth objects. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 The Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) NASA is and should remain a multimission 

4 agency with a balanced and robust set of core mis5 sions in science, aeronautics, and human space flight 

6 and exploration. 

7 (2) NASA’s programs have the potential to in8 spire our youth to pursue studies and careers in 

9 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, 

10 and the agency should carry out its activities in a 

11 manner that enhances the educational and outreach 

12 potential of its programs. 

13 (3) NASA should begin to reinvest in sustained 

14 fashion in a long-term space technology research and 

15 development activity. Such investments are an im16 portant catalyst for innovation, and they represent 

17 the critically important ‘‘seed corn’’ on which 

18 NASA’s ability to carry out challenging and produc19 tive missions in the future will depend. 

20 (4) The Space Shuttle workforce, both civil 

21 servants and contractors, encompasses skills and ex22 perience that will be needed in the Nation’s future 

23 human space flight activities, and the transition of 

24 that workforce to a challenging human space flight 

25 and exploration program needs to be carried out in 


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1 as expeditious and nondisruptive a manner as pos2 sible. 

3 (5) Human and robotic exploration of the solar 

4 system will be a significant undertaking of humanity 

5 in the 21st century and beyond, and it is in the na6 tional interest that the United States should assume 

7 a leadership role in a cooperative international explo8 ration initiative. Continuity of exploration goals is 

9 critical if progress is to be maximized and costly in10 efficiencies are to be minimized. 

11 (6) Commercial activities have long contributed 

12 to the vitality and strength of the Nation’s space 

13 and aeronautics programs, and the growth of a 

14 healthy, self-sustaining United States commercial 

15 space and aeronautics sector should continue to be 

16 encouraged. 

17 (7) Congress agrees with the finding of the Re18 view of United States Human Spaceflight Plans 

19 Committee that: ‘‘While there are many potential 

20 benefits of commercial services that transport crew 

21 to low-Earth orbit, there are simply too many risks 

22 at the present time not to have a viable fallback op23 tion for risk mitigation.’’. 

24 (8) It is in the national interest for the United 

25 States Government to develop a government system 


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1 to serve as an independent means—whether primary 

2 or backup—of crewed access to low-Earth orbit and 

3 beyond so that it is not dependent on either non4 United States or commercial systems for its crewed 

5 access to space. 

6 (9) Development of the next crewed space 

7 transportation system to low-Earth orbit should be 

8 guided by the Columbia Accident Investigation 

9 Board’s recommendation that ‘‘the design of the sys10 tem should give overriding priority to crew safety, 

11 rather than trade safety against other performance 

12 criteria, such as low cost and reusability’’. 

13 (10) In an environment of constrained budgets, 

14 responsible stewardship of taxpayer-provided re15 sources makes it imperative that NASA’s exploration 

16 program be carried out in a manner that builds on 

17 the investments made to date in the Orion, Ares I, 

18 and heavy lift projects and other activities of the ex19 ploration program in existence prior to fiscal year 

20 2011 rather than discarding them. A restructured 

21 exploration program should pursue the incremental 

22 development and demonstration of crewed and 

23 heavy-lift transportation systems in a manner that 

24 ensures that investments to provide assured access 

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1 tious development of the heavy lift launch vehicle 

2 system, minimize the looming human space flight 

3 ‘‘gap’’, provide a very high level of crew safety, and 

4 enable challenging missions beyond low-Earth orbit 

5 in a timely manner. 

6 (11) NASA’s programs in astrophysics, 

7 heliophysics, planetary science, and Earth science 

8 and climate research have greatly increased our un9 derstanding of both our home planet and the rest of 

10 the universe, and they have also provided numerous 

11 benefits to our society. 

12 (12) NASA’s aeronautics program is under13 taking research and development that benefits our 

14 economic development and competitiveness, enhances 

15 our quality of life and enables environmentally re16 sponsible aviation operations, and strengthens our 

17 national defense. 

18 (13) The ISS provides a unique research envi19 ronment and capabilities for basic and applied re20 search, as well as having the potential to serve as a 

21 testbed for human space flight technologies and 

22 operational concepts. It is critically important that 

23 NASA make needed investments to promote produc24 tive ISS utilization, including a meaningful program 


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1 of grants in the life and physical sciences micro2 gravity research disciplines. 

3 (14) It is in the national interest for the United 

4 States to have an export control policy that protects 

5 the national security while also enabling the United 

6 States aerospace industry to compete effectively in 

7 the global marketplace and the United States to un8 dertake cooperative programs in science and human 

9 space flight in an effective manner. 

10 (15) A strong, robust NASA program is in the 

11 national interest. Ensuring that it can continue to 

12 pursue cutting-edge space and aeronautical research 

13 and development activities and push back the fron14 tier of space exploration requires a sustained and 

15 adequate commitment in resources. However, 

16 NASA’s share of the Federal discretionary budg17 etary authority has declined significantly relative to 

18 its post-Apollo historical average share of 2.07 per19 cent. It should be a national goal to restore NASA’s 

20 funding share to its post-Apollo historical average. 

21 (16) NASA should be vigilant in taking all nec22 essary steps to control cost and schedule growth in 

23 mission projects, including the development of an in24 tegrated cost containment strategy, and adopt meas25 ures that improve the performance and transparency 


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1 of its cost and acquisition management practices. 

2 NASA should approach cost and schedule manage3 ment with the same level of innovation, rigor, and 

4 technical excellence that it applies to the execution 

5 of its mission projects. 

6 (17) NASA has been inconsistent in its treat7 ment of termination liability costs for contracts 

8 issued by different mission directorates and across 

9 various agency programs relative to historical prac10 tice. This inconsistency has hampered NASA’s abil11 ity to effectively execute its Exploration programs. 

12 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

13 In this Act: 

14 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis15 trator’’ means the Administrator of NASA. 

16 (2) ISS.—The term ‘‘ISS’’ means the Inter17 national Space Station. 

18 (3) NASA.—The term ‘‘NASA’’ means the Na19 tional Aeronautics and Space Administration. 

20 (4) NOAA.—The term ‘‘NOAA’’ means the Na21 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

22 (5) OSTP.—The term ‘‘OSTP’’ means the Of23 fice of Science and Technology Policy. 


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1 TITLE I—AUTHORIZATION OF 

2 APPROPRIATIONS 

3 SEC. 101. FISCAL YEAR 2011. 

4 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Ad5 ministrator for fiscal year 2011 $19,000,000,000, to be 

6 allocated as follows: 

7 (1) For Science, $5,015,700,000, of which— 

8 (A) $1,801,800,000 shall be for Earth 

9 Science; 

10 (B) $1,485,700,000 shall be for Planetary 

11 Science; 

12 (C) $1,076,300,000 shall be for Astro13 physics; 

14 (D) $646,900,000 shall be for 

15 Heliophysics, of which $5,000,000 shall be an 

16 augmentation to the Explorers program; and 

17 (E) $5,000,000 shall be an augmentation 

18 to the total amount provided under subpara19 graphs (C) and (D) for Astrophysics and 

20 Heliophysics in order to augment the funding 

21 for the Science Mission Directorate’s suborbital 

22 research programs, to be allocated between the 

23 Astrophysics and Heliophysics suborbital pro24 grams at the Administrator’s discretion. 

25 (2) For Aeronautics, $579,600,000. 


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1 (3) For Space Technology, $572,200,000, of 

2 which $1,000,000 shall be for the Commercial Reus3 able Suborbital Research project for defining user 

4 requirements and identifying, assessing, and charac5 terizing commercial reusable suborbital vehicle capa6 bilities and risks for use as potential research and 

7 development platforms. 

8 (4) For Exploration, $4,535,300,000 of 

9 which— 

10 (A) $215,000,000 shall be for Human Re11 search; 

12 (B) $14,000,000 shall be for the Commer13 cial Orbital Transportation System demonstra14 tion program; 

15 (C) $50,000,000 shall be for commercial 

16 crew transportation-related activities; 

17 (D) $4,156,300,000 shall be for the re18 structured exploration program described in 

19 section 202; and 

20 (E) $100,000,000 shall be for the loan and 

21 loan guarantee program described in section 

22 243. 

23 (5) For Space Operations, $4,594,300,000, of 

24 which— 


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1 (A) $989,100,000 shall be for the Space 

2 Shuttle program; 

3 (B) $2,804,800,000 shall be for the ISS, 

4 of which $75,000,000 shall be for fundamental 

5 space life science and physical sciences and re6 lated technology research using ground-based, 

7 free-flyer, and ISS facilities, including ISS Na8 tional Laboratory research; 

9 (C) $60,000,000 shall be for the Post10 Shuttle Workforce Transition Initiative grant 

11 program described in section 222; and 

12 (D) $740,400,000 shall be for Space and 

13 Flight Support, of which $50,000,000 shall be 

14 for the 21st Century Launch Complex Initia15 tive. 

16 (6) For Education, $145,800,000. 

17 (7) For Cross-Agency Support Programs, 

18 $3,111,400,000. 

19 (8) For Construction and Environmental Com20 pliance and Restoration, $407,300,000, of which 

21 $10,000,000 is an augmentation to the President’s 

22 requested funding level in order to support the 

23 NASA laboratory revitalization initiative described in 

24 section 701. 

25 (9) For Inspector General, $38,400,000. 


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1 SEC. 102. FISCAL YEAR 2012. 

2 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Ad3 ministrator for fiscal year 2012 $19,450,000,000, to be 

4 allocated as follows: 

5 (1) For Science, $5,278,600,000 of which— 

6 (A) $1,944,500,000 shall be for Earth 

7 Science; 

8 (B) $1,547,200,000 shall be for Planetary 

9 Science; 

10 (C) $1,109,300,000 shall be for Astro11 physics; 

12 (D) $672,600,000 shall be for 

13 Heliophysics, of which $25,000,000 shall be an 

14 augmentation to the Explorers program; and 

15 (E) $5,000,000 shall be an augmentation 

16 to the total amount provided under subpara17 graphs (C) and (D) for Astrophysics and 

18 Heliophysics in order to augment the funding 

19 for the Science Mission Directorate’s suborbital 

20 research programs, to be allocated between the 

21 Astrophysics and Heliophysics suborbital pro22 grams at the Administrator’s discretion. 

23 (2) For Aeronautics, $598,700,000, of which 

24 $78,900,000 shall be for the Aviation Safety Pro25 gram, $80,400,000 shall be for the Aeronautics Test 

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1 tems Program, $233,500,000 shall be for Funda2 mental Aeronautics, and $122,000,000 shall be for 

3 Integrated Systems Research. 

4 (3) For Space Technology, $1,012,200,000, of 

5 which $1,000,000 shall be for the Commercial Reus6 able Suborbital Research project. 

7 (4) For Exploration, $4,881,800,000 of 

8 which— 

9 (A) $215,000,000 shall be for Human Re10 search; 

11 (B) $50,000,000 shall be for commercial 

12 crew transportation-related activities; 

13 (C) $4,516,800,000 shall be for the re14 structured exploration program described in 

15 section 202; and 

16 (D) $100,000,000 shall be for the loan and 

17 loan guarantee program described in section 

18 243. 

19 (5) For Space Operations, $3,930,300,000, of 

20 which— 

21 (A) $86,100,000 shall be for the Space 

22 Shuttle program; 

23 (B) $3,033,600,000 shall be for the ISS, 

24 of which $100,000,000 shall be for fundamental 

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1 lated technology research using ground-based, 

2 free-flyer, and ISS facilities, including ISS Na3 tional Laboratory research; 

4 (C) $40,000,000 shall be for the Post5 Shuttle Workforce Transition Initiative grant 

6 program described in section 222; and 

7 (D) $770,600,000 shall be for Space and 

8 Flight Support, of which $50,000,000 shall be 

9 for the 21st Century Launch Complex Initia10 tive. 

11 (6) For Education, $145,800,000. 

12 (7) For Cross-Agency Support Programs, 

13 $3,189,600,000. 

14 (8) For Construction and Environmental Com15 pliance and Restoration, $373,800,000, of which 

16 $10,000,000 is an augmentation to the President’s 

17 requested level in order to support the NASA labora18 tory revitalization initiative described in section 701. 

19 (9) For Inspector General, $39,200,000. 

20 SEC. 103. FISCAL YEAR 2013. 

21 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Ad22 ministrator for fiscal year 2013 $19,960,000,000, to be 

23 allocated as follows: 

24 (1) For Science, $5,569,500,000, of which— 


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1 (A) $2,089,500,000 shall be for Earth 

2 Science; 

3 (B) $1,591,200,000 shall be for Planetary 

4 Science; 

5 (C) $1,149,100,000 shall be for Astro6 physics; 

7 (D) $734,700,000 shall be for 

8 Heliophysics, of which $55,000,000 shall be an 

9 augmentation to the Explorers program; and 

10 (E) $5,000,000 shall be an augmentation 

11 to the total amount provided under subpara12 graphs (C) and (D) for Astrophysics and 

13 Heliophysics in order to augment the funding 

14 for the Science Mission Directorate’s suborbital 

15 research programs, to be allocated between the 

16 Astrophysics and Heliophysics suborbital pro17 grams at the Administrator’s discretion. 

18 (2) For Aeronautics, $609,400,000, of which 

19 $81,200,000 shall be for the Aviation Safety Pro20 gram, $79,600,000 shall be for the Aeronautics Test 

21 Program, $87,300,000 shall be for the Airspace Sys22 tems Program, $239,000,000 shall be for Funda23 mental Aeronautics, and $122,300,000 shall be for 

24 Integrated Systems Research. 

25 (3) For Space Technology, $1,059,700,000. 


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1 (4) For Exploration, $4,888,500,000 of 

2 which— 

3 (A) $215,000,000 shall be for Human Re4 search; 

5 (B) $5,000,000, shall be for the Explo6 ration Technology and Demonstration program; 

7 (C) $5,000,000 shall be for the Explo8 ration Precursor Robotic Missions program; 

9 (D) $50,000,000 shall be for commercial 

10 crew transportation-related activities; 

11 (E) $4,513,500,000 shall be for the re12 structured exploration program described in 

13 section 202; and 

14 (F) $100,000,000 shall be for the loan and 

15 loan guarantee program described in section 

16 243. 

17 (5) For Space Operations, $3,993,300,000, of 

18 which— 

19 (A) $3,179,400,000 shall be for the ISS, 

20 of which $100,000,000 shall be for fundamental 

21 space life science and physical sciences and re22 lated technology research using ground-based, 

23 free-flyer, and ISS facilities, including ISS Na24 tional Laboratory research; 


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1 (B) $40,000,000 shall be for the Post2 Shuttle Workforce Transition Initiative grant 

3 program described in section 222; and 

4 (C) $773,900,000 shall be for Space and 

5 Flight Support, of which $50,000,000 shall be 

6 for the 21st Century Launch Complex Initia7 tive. 

8 (6) For Education, $145,800,000. 

9 (7) For Cross-Agency Support Programs, 

10 $3,276,800,000. 

11 (8) For Construction and Environmental Com12 pliance and Restoration, $376,900,000, of which 

13 $10,000,000 is an augmentation to the President’s 

14 requested funding level in order to support the 

15 NASA laboratory revitalization initiative described in 

16 section 701. 

17 (9) For Inspector General, $40,100,000. 

18 SEC. 104. FISCAL YEAR 2014. 

19 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Ad20 ministrator for fiscal year 2014 $20,600,000,000, to be 

21 allocated as follows: 

22 (1) For Science, $5,794,800,000, of which— 

23 (A) $2,216,600,000 shall be for Earth 

24 Science; 


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1 (B) $1,635,100,000 shall be for Planetary 

2 Science; 

3 (C) $1,158,700,000 shall be for Astro4 physics; 

5 (D) $779,400,000 shall be for 

6 Heliophysics, of which $75,000,000 shall be an 

7 augmentation to the Explorers program; and 

8 (E) $5,000,000 shall be an augmentation 

9 to the total amount provided under subpara10 graphs (C) and (D) for Astrophysics and 

11 Heliophysics in order to augment the funding 

12 for the Science Mission Directorate’s suborbital 

13 research programs, to be allocated between the 

14 Astrophysics and Heliophysics suborbital pro15 grams at the Administrator’s discretion. 

16 (2) For Aeronautics, $615,100,000, of which 

17 $81,900,000 shall be for the Aviation Safety Pro18 gram, $81,400,000 shall be for the Aeronautics Test 

19 Program, $88,300,000 shall be for the Airspace Sys20 tems Program, $246,000,000 shall be for Funda21 mental Aeronautics, and $117,500,000 shall be for 

22 Integrated Systems Research. 

23 (3) For Space Technology, $1,063,900,000. 

24 (4) For Exploration, $5,106,800,000 of 

25 which— 


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1 (A) $215,000,000 shall be for Human Re2 search; 

3 (B) $10,000,000 shall be for the Explo4 ration Technology and Demonstration program; 

5 (C) $10,000,000 shall be for the Explo6 ration Precursor Robotic Missions program; 

7 (D) $50,000,000 shall be for commercial 

8 crew transportation-related activities; 

9 (E) $4,721,800,000 shall be for the re10 structured exploration program described in 

11 section 202; and 

12 (F) $100,000,000 shall be for the loan and 

13 loan guarantee program described in section 

14 243. 

15 (5) For Space Operations, $4,062,600,000, of 

16 which— 

17 (A) $3,271,900,000 shall be for the ISS, 

18 of which $125,000,000 shall be for fundamental 

19 space life science and physical sciences and re20 lated technology research using ground-based, 

21 free-flyer, and ISS facilities, including ISS Na22 tional Laboratory research; and 

23 (B) $790,700,000 shall be for Space and 

24 Flight Support, of which $50,000,000 shall be 


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1 for the 21st Century Launch Complex Initia2 tive. 

3 (6) For Education, $145,800,000. 

4 (7) For Cross-Agency Support Programs, 

5 $3,366,500,000. 

6 (8) For Construction and Environmental Com7 pliance and Restoration, $403,500,000, of which 

8 $10,000,000 is an augmentation to the President’s 

9 requested funding level in order to support the 

10 NASA laboratory revitalization initiative described in 

11 section 701. 

12 (9) For Inspector General, $41,000,000. 

13 SEC. 105. FISCAL YEAR 2015. 

14 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Ad15 ministrator for fiscal year 2015 $20,990,000,000, to be 

16 allocated as follows: 

17 (1) For Science, $5,899,000,000 of which— 

18 (A) $2,282,200,000 shall be for Earth 

19 Science; 

20 (B) $1,654,400,000 shall be for Planetary 

21 Science; 

22 (C) $1,131,600,000 shall be for Astro23 physics; 


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1 (D) $825,800,000 shall be for 

2 Heliophysics, of which $75,000,000 shall be an 

3 augmentation to the Explorers program; and 

4 (E) $5,000,000 shall be an augmentation 

5 to the total amount provided under subpara6 graphs (C) and (D) for Astrophysics and 

7 Heliophysics in order to augment the funding 

8 for the Science Mission Directorate’s suborbital 

9 research programs, to be allocated between the 

10 Astrophysics and Heliophysics suborbital pro11 grams at the Administrator’s discretion. 

12 (2) For Aeronautics, $625,300,000, of which 

13 $82,700,000 shall be for the Aviation Safety Pro14 gram, $82,200,000 shall be for the Aeronautics Test 

15 Program, $91,400,000 shall be for the Airspace Sys16 tems Program, $250,000,000 shall be for Funda17 mental Aeronautics, and $119,000,000 shall be for 

18 Integrated Systems Research. 

19 (3) For Space Technology, $1,217,900,000. 

20 (4) For Exploration, $5,157,900,000 of 

21 which— 

22 (A) $215,000,000 shall be for Human Re23 search; 

24 (B) $30,000,000 shall be for the Explo25 ration Technology and Demonstration program; 


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1 (C) $30,000,000 shall be for the Explo2 ration Precursor Robotic Missions program; 

3 (D) $50,000,000 shall be for commercial 

4 crew transportation-related activities; 

5 (E) $4,732,900,000 shall be for the re6 structured exploration program described in 

7 section 202; and 

8 (F) $100,000,000 shall be for the loan and 

9 loan guarantee program described in section 

10 243. 

11 (5) For Space Operations, $4,030,500,000, of 

12 which— 

13 (A) $3,232,800,000 shall be for the ISS, 

14 of which $125,000,000 shall be for fundamental 

15 space life science and physical sciences and re16 lated technology research using ground-based, 

17 free-flyer, and ISS facilities, including ISS Na18 tional Laboratory research; and 

19 (B) $797,700,000 shall be for Space and 

20 Flight Support, of which $50,000,000 shall be 

21 for the 21st Century Launch Complex Initia22 tive. 

23 (6) For Education, $146,800,000. 

24 (7) For Cross-Agency Support Programs, 

25 $3,462,200,000. 


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1 (8) For Construction and Environmental Com2 pliance and Restoration, $408,500,000, of which 

3 $10,000,000 is an augmentation to the President’s 

4 requested funding level in order to support the 

5 NASA laboratory revitalization initiative described in 

6 section 701. 

7 (9) For Inspector General, $41,900,000. 

8 TITLE II—HUMAN SPACE FLIGHT 

9 Subtitle A—Exploration 

10 SEC. 201. REAFFIRMATION OF EXPLORATION POLICY. 

11 Congress reaffirms its support for the exploration 

12 policy set forth in sections 401 and 402 of the National 

13 Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act 

14 of 2008 (Public Law 110–422; 122 Stat. 4788–4789). 

15 SEC. 202. RESTRUCTURED EXPLORATION PROGRAM. 

16 (a) REQUIREMENTS.—Not later than 180 days after 

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

18 develop a plan to restructure the exploration program in 

19 existence prior to fiscal year 2011 in order to develop and 

20 demonstrate in an integrated manner and as expeditiously 

21 and efficiently as practicable a governmentally owned crew 

22 transportation system and heavy lift transportation sys23 tem that satisfies the following requirements: 

24 (1) The plan shall make maximum practicable 

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1 pleted to date on the Orion crew exploration vehicle, 

2 Ares I crew launch vehicle, heavy lift launch vehicle 

3 system, and associated ground support and explo4 ration enabling systems and take best advantage of 

5 investments and contracts implemented to date. 

6 (2) The performance capabilities of the crew 

7 transportation system shall be phased in a manner 

8 that is consistent with available and anticipated re9 sources, with the initial operational goal of having 

10 the crew transportation system developed under this 

11 section available to assure crewed access to low12 Earth orbit and the ISS no later than December 31, 

13 2015, in order to minimize the duration of the 

14 United States human space flight gap following the 

15 retirement of the Space Shuttle fleet. If one or more 

16 United States commercial entities are certified to 

17 provide ISS crew transportation and rescue services, 

18 the crew transportation system developed under this 

19 section shall be available as a backup ISS crew 

20 transportation and rescue service as needed but shall 

21 not be utilized as the primary means of ISS crew 

22 transportation and rescue or otherwise compete with 

23 the commercial system for ISS crew transportation 

24 and rescue services. 


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1 (3) The crewed spacecraft element of the crew 

2 transportation system shall be evolvable on a contin3 uous development path to support— 

4 (A) ISS crew transportation and rescue ca5 pability; 

6 (B) non-ISS missions to, from, and in low7 Earth orbit; and 

8 (C) human missions beyond low-Earth 

9 orbit. 

10 (4) The crew transportation system shall be 

11 able to serve as a testbed for demonstrating oper12 ations concepts for exploration missions beyond low13 Earth orbit, as well as for demonstrating tech14 nologies and carrying out risk reduction for the 

15 heavy lift launch vehicle development program. 

16 (5) The crew transportation system shall have 

17 predicted levels of safety during ascent to low-Earth 

18 orbit, transit, and descent from low-Earth orbit that 

19 are not less than those required of the Ares I/Orion 

20 configuration that has completed program prelimi21 nary design review. 

22 (6) In order to make the most cost-effective use 

23 of the funds available for the restructured explo24 ration program, the Administrator shall pursue the 

25 expeditious and cost-efficient development of a heavy 


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1 lift launch system that utilizes the systems and 

2 flight and ground test activities of the crew trans3 portation system developed under this section to the 

4 maximum extent practicable. In developing the heavy 

5 lift launch vehicle— 

6 (A) the heavy lift launch vehicle shall be 

7 sized to enable challenging missions beyond low8 Earth orbit and evolvable on a continuous de9 velopment path to enable the efficient and cost10 effective conduct of crewed missions to the full 

11 range of destinations envisioned in the National 

12 Aeronautics and Space Administration Author13 ization Act of 2008, namely Lagrangian points, 

14 the Moon, near-Earth objects, and Mars and its 

15 moons; 

16 (B) not later than 180 days after the date 

17 of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 

18 shall carry out a review of the heavy lift launch 

19 vehicle requirements needed to support crewed 

20 missions to the full range of destinations envi21 sioned in the National Aeronautics and Space 

22 Administration Authorization Act of 2008, and 

23 shall select an exploration launch vehicle archi24 tecture to meet those requirements; 


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1 (C) the development of the heavy lift 

2 launch vehicle authorized in this paragraph 

3 shall be completed as expeditiously as possible 

4 within available resources and shall take max5 imum benefit from the prior investments made 

6 in the Orion, Ares I, and heavy lift projects and 

7 from investments made in the restructured pro8 gram on the development, demonstration, and 

9 test of the crew transportation system; and 

10 (D) the Administrator shall strive to meet 

11 the goal of having the heavy lift launch vehicle 

12 authorized in this paragraph available for oper13 ational missions by the end of the current dec14 ade. 

15 (b) IMPLEMENTATION OF RESTRUCTURED PRO16 GRAM.—The restructured exploration program shall be 

17 implemented in a manner that— 

18 (1) facilitates the planned transition of Space 

19 Shuttle program personnel to the restructured explo20 ration program upon the retirement of the Space 

21 Shuttle fleet, while providing for cost effective man22 agement and vehicle development; 

23 (2) provides for a robust flight and ground test 

24 and demonstration program; 


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1 (3) streamlines program management processes 

2 to the maximum extent practicable while ensuring 

3 that the Government’s ability to meet its responsibil4 ities for cost discipline, safety, and mission assur5 ance is maintained; 

6 (4) working with industry, eliminates unneces7 sary NASA and industry institutional infrastructure, 

8 other fixed costs, processes, and oversight, reducing 

9 exploration program fixed costs to the extent prac10 ticable and maximizing the program’s affordability; 

11 (5) incentivizes, through innovative manage12 ment practices, NASA program and project man13 agers and industry counterparts to establish and 

14 maintain realistic cost and schedule estimates, and 

15 take necessary steps to avoid cost and schedule 

16 growth; 

17 (6) seeks to minimize to the extent practicable 

18 the operating costs of the crew transportation sys19 tem developed under the restructured exploration 

20 program; 

21 (7) enables the restructured exploration pro22 gram to undertake in an incremental fashion in23 creasingly challenging uncrewed and crewed dem24 onstration flights in and beyond low-Earth orbit; 


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1 (8) allows the systems developed under the re2 structured exploration program to serve as potential 

3 testbeds for the demonstration of key enabling explo4 ration technologies and operational capabilities; and 

5 (9) prepares for and enables human missions to 

6 a variety of destinations in the inner solar system, 

7 including cislunar space, the Moon, Lagrangian 

8 points, near-Earth objects, and ultimately Mars and 

9 its moons. 

10 (c) SUPPORT SYSTEMS.—The restructured explo11 ration program shall continue work on ground systems 

12 and other exploration-enabling technologies and capabili13 ties needed to support the exploration program as expedi14 tiously as possible within available resources. 

15 (d) INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION.—The Admin16 istrator shall explore potential international collaborations 

17 that would enable more ambitious exploration missions in 

18 a timely manner and within available resources than would 

19 otherwise be possible, such as human lunar landings or 

20 the incremental establishment of a lunar research outpost. 

21 SEC. 203. SPACE RADIATION. 

22 (a) STRATEGY.—The Administrator shall develop a 

23 space radiation mitigation and management strategy and 

24 implementation plan that includes key milestones, a time25 table, and estimation of budget requirements. The stratVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:16 Jul 21, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00030 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5781.IH H5781

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1 egy shall include a mechanism to coordinate NASA re2 search, technology, facilities, engineering, operations, and 

3 other functions required to support the strategy and plan. 

4 The Administrator shall transmit the strategy and plan 

5 to the Congress not later than 12 months after the date 

6 of enactment of this Act. 

7 (b) SPACE RADIATION RESEARCH FACILITIES.—The 

8 Administrator, in consultation with the heads of other ap9 propriate Federal agencies, shall assess the national capa10 bilities for carrying out critical ground-based research on 

11 space radiation biology, and shall identify any issues that 

12 could affect the ability to carry out that research. 

13 (c) RESEARCH ON SOLAR PARTICLE EVENTS.—The 

14 Administrator shall carry out research on solar particle 

15 events to improve the predictions and forecasts of solar 

16 particle events that could affect human missions beyond 

17 low-Earth orbit. 

18 Subtitle B—International Space 

19 Station 

20 SEC. 211. EXTENSION OF ISS OPERATIONS. 

21 The Administrator shall, in consultation with the ISS 

22 partners, take all necessary measures to support the oper23 ation and full utilization of the International Space Sta24 tion through at least the year 2020, if it can continue to 

25 be operated safely over that period. The Administrator 


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1 shall, in consultation with the ISS partners, seek to mini2 mize to the extent practicable the operating costs of the 

3 ISS. 

4 SEC. 212. ISS RESEARCH MANAGEMENT INSTITUTION. 

5 (a) DESIGNATION.—Pursuant to section 507 of the 

6 National Aeronautics and Space Administration Author7 ization Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16767), the Administrator 

8 shall designate an independent, nonprofit United States 

9 institution, based on the result of a competitive solicita10 tion, for the management of fundamental space life science 

11 and physical sciences and related technology research to 

12 be conducted on the ISS, as well as all research, including 

13 United States commercial research, that is funded by non14 NASA United States domestic entities and carried out on 

15 the ISS. 

16 (b) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The research management 

17 institution designated under subsection (a) shall make rec18 ommendations to the Administrator for— 

19 (1) competitively selecting, prioritizing, and 

20 overseeing United States ISS research projects 

21 across all United States users, sponsors, and dis22 ciplines, including domestic entities other than 

23 NASA, seeking to carry out research on the ISS; 

24 (2) establishing a process for governance of 

25 United States ISS research users; 


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1 (3) conducting outreach and education to en2 hance the utilization of the ISS; and 

3 (4) providing easily accessible information on 

4 the United States capabilities, research facilities, 

5 and resources associated with the United States re6 search use of the ISS. 

7 (c) DEVIATIONS.—If the Administrator takes actions 

8 that deviate from the recommendations provided by the 

9 research management institution under subsection (b), the 

10 Administrator shall transmit to the Congress a report ex11 plaining the reasons for such deviation. 

12 (d) OTHER GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS.—Other gov13 ernment agencies engaged in research and development 

14 are authorized to enter into contracts with the nonprofit 

15 organization designated under subsection (a) if it is deter16 mined by those agencies to be beneficial to meeting their 

17 mission requirements for use of the ISS. 

18 SEC. 213. ISS RESEARCH MANAGEMENT PLAN. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in coordina20 tion with the Associate Administrator for the Space Oper21 ations Mission Directorate, shall require that the institu22 tion designated under section 212(a) prepare for the Ad23 ministrator a United States ISS research management 

24 plan that— 


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1 (1) establishes a process for selecting United 

2 States ISS research; 

3 (2) identifies the expertise and support avail4 able to researchers selected to carry out research on 

5 the ISS; 

6 (3) establishes a process for determining alloca7 tion schedules for research to be carried out on the 

8 ISS; 

9 (4) establishes a process for accommodating 

10 logistical and transportation requirements for ISS 

11 research payloads; 

12 (5) prescribes flight schedules for research pay13 loads to the ISS (and research materials to be re14 turned to Earth, if necessary); and 

15 (6) addresses other factors associated with the 

16 selection, management, and oversight of United 

17 States ISS research. 

18 (b) TRANSMITTAL TO CONGRESS.—The plan shall be 

19 transmitted to the Congress not later than 2 years after 

20 the date of enactment of this Act. 

21 SEC. 214. OUTREACH PLAN FOR UNITED STATES ISS RE22 SEARCH. 

23 Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 

24 of this Act, the Administrator shall transmit to the Con25 gress a plan prepared by the institution designated under 


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1 section 212(a) for broadening and enhancing the outreach 

2 to potential United States Government, academic, and 

3 commercial users of the ISS. 

4 SEC. 215. ISS CARGO RESUPPLY REQUIREMENTS AND CON5 TINGENCY CAPACITY THROUGH 2020. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall ensure 

7 the availability of ISS cargo resupply capacity to support 

8 the full and productive utilization and the extended oper9 ations of the ISS through the year 2020. 

10 (b) ASSESSMENT.—The Administrator shall conduct 

11 an assessment of the ISS cargo resupply capacity required 

12 to support the enhanced research utilization and extended 

13 operations of the ISS through 2020. The assessment shall 

14 describe the methodology and assumptions used to define 

15 the cargo requirements and provide a breakdown of the 

16 cargo resupply requirements (upmass and downmass) to 

17 support scientific research, other research and develop18 ment, operations and maintenance, crew supplies, and 

19 other necessary activities. In addition, the assessment 

20 shall identify the systems to be used for ISS cargo resup21 ply, the amount of cargo those systems will transport, and 

22 the timeline for cargo resupply services to the ISS. 

23 (c) ADDITIONAL RESUPPLY OPTIONS.—The Admin24 istrator shall explore with ISS partners options for ensur25 ing the provision of needed upmass to and downmass from 


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1 the ISS in the event that adequate commercial cargo re2 supply capabilities are not available during any extended 

3 period after the date that the Space Shuttle is retired. 

4 SEC. 216. CENTRIFUGE. 

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

6 an assessment of innovative options for deploying a vari7 able-gravity centrifuge on the ISS. The assessment shall 

8 identify the requirements for a variable-gravity centrifuge 

9 to support fundamental and applied research on the ISS, 

10 including research to help mitigate the risk of long-term 

11 spaceflight beyond low-Earth orbit. The assessment shall 

12 also— 

13 (1) review the requirements for development, 

14 launch, and operation of the facility on the ISS; 

15 (2) provide an estimate of the potential cost 

16 and timeline for developing and deploying the cen17 trifuge capabilities evaluated as part of the assess18 ment; 

19 (3) evaluate the status of previous work on de20 velopment of an in-flight centrifuge for the ISS and 

21 the cost and time that would be required to complete 

22 the work and the launch the facility; and 

23 (4) identify the potential for international col24 laboration and other potential partnerships or inno25 vative acquisition approaches that could facilitate 


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1 the development and deployment of a centrifuge fa2 cility for the ISS. 

3 (b) TRANSMITTAL TO CONGRESS.—The Adminis4 trator shall transmit the assessment described in sub5 section (a) to the Congress not later than 1 year after 

6 the date of enactment of this Act. 

7 SEC. 217. EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT 

8 USING THE ISS. 

9 (a) PLAN.—The Administrator shall develop prior10 ities for technology development, testing, and demonstra11 tion activities that enable and support NASA’s long-term 

12 plans for exploration beyond low-Earth orbit and that re13 quire the capabilities of the ISS, and shall develop a plan, 

14 including milestones, a schedule, and an estimate of re15 source requirements, for carrying out the prioritized ac16 tivities. The plan shall be developed for the period of fiscal 

17 years 2011 through 2020. 

18 (b) TRANSMITTAL TO CONGRESS.—The Adminis19 trator shall transmit the plan developed under subsection 

20 (a) to the Congress not later than 270 days after the date 

21 of enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 218. FUNDAMENTAL SPACE LIFE SCIENCE AND PHYS2 ICAL SCIENCES AND RELATED TECHNOLOGY 

3 RESEARCH. 

4 (a) STRATEGIC PLAN FOR SCIENCE AND TECH5 NOLOGY RESEARCH.— 

6 (1) DEVELOPMENT.—The Administrator, in 

7 consultation with academia, other Federal agencies, 

8 and other potential stakeholders, shall develop a 

9 strategic plan for carrying out competitive, peer-re10 viewed fundamental space life science and physical 

11 sciences and related technology research, including 

12 research on phenomena such as the response of 

13 fluids and materials to reduced gravity environments 

14 that need to be understood in developing explo15 ration-related technologies and systems. The plan 

16 shall— 

17 (A) address the facilities and instrumenta18 tion that would enable and facilitate such re19 search; 

20 (B) be consistent with the priorities and 

21 recommendations established by the National 

22 Academies in its decadal survey of life and 

23 microgravity sciences; 

24 (C) provide a research timeline and iden25 tify the resource requirements for its implemen26 tation; 


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1 (D) include an estimate of the number of 

2 students, including undergraduate, graduate, 

3 and post-doctoral students, and early-career re4 searchers that would be supported in carrying 

5 out the plan; and 

6 (E) identify— 

7 (i) criteria for the proposed space re8 search, including— 

9 (I) a justification for the research 

10 to be carried out in the space micro11 gravity environment; 

12 (II) the use of model systems; 

13 (III) the testing of flight hard14 ware to understand and ensure its 

15 functioning in the microgravity envi16 ronment; 

17 (IV) the use of controls to help 

18 distinguish among the direct and indi19 rect effects of microgravity, among 

20 other effects of the flight or space en21 vironment; 

22 (V) approaches for facilitating 

23 data collection, analysis, and interpre24 tation; 


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1 (VI) procedures to ensure repeti2 tion of experiments as needed; and 

3 (VII) support for timely presen4 tation of the peer-reviewed results of 

5 the research; 

6 (ii) instrumentation required to sup7 port the measurements and analysis of the 

8 research to be carried out under the stra9 tegic plan, including the potential use of 

10 instrumentation developed by other coun11 tries and the potential for a variable-grav12 ity centrifuge to support the research; 

13 (iii) the capabilities needed to support 

14 direct, real-time communications between 

15 astronauts working on research experi16 ments onboard the ISS and the principal 

17 investigator on the ground; and 

18 (iv) a process for involving the exter19 nal user community in research planning, 

20 including planning for relevant flight hard21 ware and instrumentation, and for utiliza22 tion of the ISS, free flyers, or other re23 search platforms. 

24 (2) TRANSMITTAL TO CONGRESS.—Not later 

25 than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, 


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1 the Administrator shall transmit the strategic plan 

2 developed under paragraph (1) to the Congress. 

3 (b) INTEGRATED RESEARCH MANAGEMENT ORGANI4 ZATION.— 

5 (1) RESPONSIBLE OFFICIAL.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

7 shall ensure that a responsible official is des8 ignated at NASA headquarters to lead a com9 petitive, integrated basic and applied research 

10 program in fundamental space life science and 

11 physical sciences and related technology. 

12 (B) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The official des13 ignated under subparagraph (A) shall be re14 sponsible for— 

15 (i) leading near-term and long-term 

16 strategic planning pursuant to the research 

17 plan developed under subsection (a); 

18 (ii) ensuring the input of the external 

19 user community in science planning proc20 esses; 

21 (iii) ensuring the implementation of 

22 an integrated, multidisciplinary and inter23 disciplinary, competitive research program 

24 in fundamental space life and physical 

25 sciences and related technology; 


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1 (iv) supporting the appropriate inter2 action of research investigators and agency 

3 managers and engineers in planning, de4 signing, testing, and operations related to 

5 such research projects; 

6 (v) monitoring progress of the pro7 gram in achieving the objectives and mile8 stones identified in the strategic plan de9 veloped under subsection (a)(1); and 

10 (vi) other functions required to sup11 port the research program under this sec12 tion. 

13 (C) COORDINATION AND COMMUNICA14 TIONS.—The Administrator shall ensure that 

15 the responsible official coordinates and commu16 nicates the fundamental space life science and 

17 physical sciences and related technology re18 search activities with relevant entities within 

19 NASA, with the ISS research management in20 stitution designated under section 212(a), and 

21 with other relevant agencies and organizations. 

22 (2) BUDGET REQUEST.—The Administrator 

23 shall, as part of the annual NASA fiscal year budget 

24 request— 


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1 (A) identify and include a description of 

2 research being carried out pursuant to section 

3 204 of the National Aeronautics and Space Ad4 ministration Authorization Act of 2005 (42 

5 U.S.C. 16633); and 

6 (B) identify the percentage of the total re7 search budget for ISS research that the re8 search described in subparagraph (A) rep9 resents; and 

10 (C) identify the programs proposed for 

11 carrying out research activities on the ISS and 

12 the proposed funding to support those research 

13 programs, including a breakdown for each of 

14 the programs identified of the funding re15 quested for competitive grants. 

16 Subtitle C—Space Shuttle 

17 SEC. 221. EXPANDED SCOPE OF SPACE SHUTTLE TRANSI18 TION LIAISON OFFICE. 

19 Section 613(b) of the National Aeronautics and 

20 Space Administration Authorization Act of 2008 (42 

21 U.S.C. 17761(b)) is amended— 

22 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘Space Shut23 tle Transition Liaison Office’’ and inserting ‘‘Post24 Shuttle Transition Liaison Office’’; and 


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1 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘2 years after 

2 the completion of the last Space Shuttle flight’’ and 

3 inserting ‘‘2 years after the award of the final grant 

4 under section 222 of the National Aeronautics and 

5 Space Administration Authorization Act of 2010’’. 

6 SEC. 222. POST-SHUTTLE WORKFORCE TRANSITION INITIA7 TIVE GRANT PROGRAM. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, acting 

10 through the Post-Shuttle Transition Liaison Office 

11 established under section 613(b) of the National 

12 Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization 

13 Act of 2008 (42 U.S.C. 17761(b)), as amended by 

14 section 221, is authorized to make grants for the es15 tablishment, operation, coordination, and implemen16 tation of aerospace workforce and community transi17 tion strategies. 

18 (2) TRANSFER.—The Administrator may trans19 fer amounts made available under this section to 

20 other Federal agencies for the purpose of assisting 

21 in the transition of aerospace workers and commu22 nities adversely affected by the termination of the 

23 Space Shuttle program. 


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1 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—A recipient of a grant under 

2 subsection (a) shall use the funds made available through 

3 the grant to— 

4 (1) conduct community and business outreach; 

5 (2) develop and implement regional 

6 revitialization and facilities reuse strategies; 

7 (3) support entrepreneurship and new business 

8 development initiatives; and 

9 (4) support workforce retraining. 

10 SEC. 223. DISPOSITION OF ORBITER VEHICLES. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Upon the termination of the 

12 Space Shuttle Program, the Administrator shall decom13 mission any remaining Space Shuttle orbiter vehicles ac14 cording to established safety and historic preservation pro15 cedures prior to their designation as surplus government 

16 property. The orbiter vehicles shall be made available and 

17 located for display and maintenance through a competitive 

18 procedure established pursuant to the disposition plan de19 veloped under section 613(a) of the National Aeronautics 

20 and Space Administration Act of 2008 (42 U.S.C. 

21 17761(a)), with priority consideration given to eligible ap22 plicants meeting all conditions of that plan which would 

23 provide for the display and maintenance of orbiters at lo24 cations with the best potential value to the public, includ25 ing where the location of the orbiters can advance eduVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:16 Jul 21, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00045 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5781.IH H5781

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1 cational opportunities in science, technology, engineering, 

2 and mathematics disciplines, and with an historical rela3 tionship with either the launch, flight operations, or proc4 essing of the Space Shuttle orbiters. 

5 (b) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION ORBITER.—Notwith6 standing the procedures in subsection (a), the Smithso7 nian Institution shall be entitled to receive one of the re8 maining Space Shuttle orbiter vehicles. The Administrator 

9 shall collaborate with the Secretary of the Smithsonian In10 stitution to determine which orbiter the Smithsonian Insti11 tution shall receive, and otherwise determine the timing 

12 and procedures of transfer from NASA to the Smithsonian 

13 Institution. The Smithsonian Institution, which, as of the 

14 date of enactment of this Act, houses the Space Shuttle 

15 Enterprise, shall determine any new location for the En16 terprise. 

17 (c) DISPLAY AND MAINTENANCE.—The orbiter vehi18 cles made available under subsection (a) shall be displayed 

19 and maintained through agreements and procedures es20 tablished pursuant to section 613(a) of the National Aero21 nautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 

22 2008 (42 U.S.C. 17761(a)). 


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1 Subtitle D—Space and Flight 

2 Support 

3 SEC. 231. 21ST CENTURY SPACE LAUNCH COMPLEX INITIA4 TIVE. 

5 In carrying out the 21st Century Space Launch Com6 plex Initiative, the Administrator shall give priority to ac7 tivities in support of the program established in section 

8 202. 

9 Subtitle E—Commercial Crew 

10 Transportation 

11 SEC. 241. AFFIRMATION OF POLICY. 

12 The Congress affirms the policy of— 

13 (1) making use of United States commercially 

14 provided ISS crew transportation and crew rescue 

15 services to the maximum extent practicable; 

16 (2) limiting, to the maximum extent practicable, 

17 the use of the system developed under section 202 

18 to non-ISS missions once commercial crew transpor19 tation and crew rescue services that meet safety re20 quirements become operational; and 

21 (3) facilitating, to the maximum extent prac22 ticable, the transfer of NASA-developed technologies 

23 to United States commercial orbital human space 

24 transportation companies in order to help promote 


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1 the development of commercially provided ISS crew 

2 transportation and crew rescue services. 

3 SEC. 242. COMMERCIAL CREW AND RELATED COMMERCIAL 

4 SPACE INITIATIVES. 

5 (a) COMMERCIAL SERVICES OPPORTUNITIES.— 

6 NASA shall seek, to the extent practicable, to make use 

7 of commercially available space services, including com8 mercially available services to transport United States 

9 Government astronauts to and from the ISS, provided 

10 that— 

11 (1) those commercial services have dem12 onstrated the capability to meet NASA-specified as13 cent, transit, entry, and ISS proximity operations 

14 safety requirements; 

15 (2) the services provider has completed, and 

16 NASA has verified, crewed flight demonstrations or 

17 operational flights that comply with NASA stand18 ards, policies, and procedures; and 

19 (3) the per-seat cost to the United States is not 

20 greater than the per-seat cost for the system devel21 oped under section 202. 

22 (b) HUMAN-RATING.—The Administrator shall estab23 lish requirements, standards, and processes for the human 

24 rating of space transportation systems that are equivalent 

25 to NASA safety processes and procedures. 


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1 (c) TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER.—The Administrator 

2 shall make available, on a nonexclusive basis, NASA-devel3 oped technologies for transfer to potential United States 

4 commercial orbital human space transportation compa5 nies. NASA shall determine the appropriate means, 

6 through cost-reimbursable arrangements or other mecha7 nisms, to transfer the technologies. 

8 (d) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND FACILITIES.—The 

9 Administrator shall make available, to the extent prac10 ticable, NASA facilities and equipment to assist in the 

11 testing and demonstration of commercial crew transpor12 tation systems, including those associated with NASA’s 

13 safety and mission assurance activities, such as NASA’s 

14 Independent Verification and Validation facility for soft15 ware verification. The Administrator shall determine the 

16 appropriate means, through cost-reimbursable arrange17 ments, agreements entered into under section 203(c)(5) 

18 of the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 (42 

19 U.S.C. 2473(c)(5)), or other mechanisms, to provide tech20 nical assistance and access to facilities to the commercial 

21 space sector. 

22 (e) NASA INSIGHT AND OVERSIGHT PROCESSES.— 

23 Any company that seeks to provide commercial crew trans24 portation services under contract to NASA shall enter into 

25 an arrangement with NASA that allows NASA to obtain 


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1 ongoing insight into the design methodologies, processes, 

2 technologies, test data, and production and quality control 

3 practices employed in the development of the commercial 

4 crew transportation system throughout the development, 

5 test, demonstration, and production phases. NASA may 

6 offer early warning of conditions that could lead NASA 

7 to withhold certification of the crew transportation sys8 tems for the flight of United States Government personnel 

9 or to decline to enter into a contract for services. NASA 

10 may not require the company to make changes to its de11 sign, technologies, or processes during the development, 

12 test, demonstration, or production phases. 

13 (f) CONTRACTS FOR COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE ISS 

14 CREW TRANSPORTATION AND CREW RESCUE SERV15 ICES.— 

16 (1) CERTIFICATION OF SAFETY AND RELI17 ABILITY.—Before entering into a contract for the 

18 use of commercially available commercial crew trans19 portation or crew rescue services for United States 

20 Government astronauts, the Administrator shall cer21 tify that a commercial ISS crew transportation and 

22 crew rescue service provider with which a contract is 

23 planned has demonstrated the safety and reliability 

24 of its systems for crew transportation and crew res25 cue to be equivalent to NASA-promulgated safety 


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1 and reliability policies, procedures, and standards for 

2 human spaceflight. Individual certifications made 

3 under this paragraph shall be provided to the Com4 mittee on Science and Technology of the House of 

5 Representatives and to the Committee on Commerce, 

6 Science, and Transportation of the Senate. 

7 (2) FLIGHT EXPERIENCE.—The Administrator 

8 shall not enter into any contract or commit any 

9 United States Government funds for a commercial 

10 ISS crew transportation or rescue service to a serv11 ice provider until sufficient successful flight experi12 ence has been accrued by the service provider’s sys13 tem to provide to NASA the safety-related and reli14 ability-related data and information needed to deter15 mine whether to fly its astronauts on that system. 

16 The Administrator shall require an amount of dem17 onstrated flight experience for a commercial crew 

18 transportation system that is at least as much as 

19 NASA requires under Alternative 1 as delineated in 

20 the NASA Policy Directive NPD 8610.7D, effective 

21 January 31, 2008, for common launch vehicle con22 figurations before Class A (high cost and high pri23 ority) payloads can be flown on them. 

24 (3) ADMINISTRATOR’S ACTIONS.—To facilitate 

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1 viders to comply with NASA human spaceflight safe2 ty and reliability requirements, the Administrator 

3 shall— 

4 (A) develop and communicate the human5 rating requirements established under sub6 section (b) to commercial space companies; 

7 (B) establish minimum acceptable safety 

8 levels; 

9 (C) provide technical assistance, to the 

10 maximum extent practicable, to the commercial 

11 space sector in understanding and applying 

12 NASA human-rating requirements, standards, 

13 and processes to commercial crew transpor14 tation and crew rescue systems; 

15 (D) establish and communicate to the com16 mercial sector the process NASA will apply for 

17 securing ongoing NASA insight into the design 

18 methodologies, processes, technologies, test 

19 data, and production and quality control prac20 tices employed in the development of the com21 mercial crew transportation system throughout 

22 the development, test, demonstration, and pro23 duction phases; 

24 (E) establish and communicate to the com25 mercial sector NASA’s process for certifying 


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1 that commercial human spaceflight systems (in2 cluding mission control, operations, ground sys3 tems, and other supporting infrastructure) com4 ply with NASA human-rating requirements and 

5 standards and related NASA policies and proce6 dures for safety and reliability, which process 

7 shall be no less stringent than the NASA poli8 cies and procedural requirements established 

9 for launch of Class A (high cost and high pri10 ority) payloads; and 

11 (F) ensure that the certification estab12 lished under subparagraph (E) includes inde13 pendent verification and validation of compli14 ance with NASA policies, procedures, and 

15 standards. 

16 (g) ASAP REVIEW OF NASA’S HUMAN-RATING RE17 QUIREMENTS, STANDARDS, AND PROCESSES.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Aerospace Safety Advi19 sory Panel shall conduct a review to identify issues 

20 pertinent to the establishment of human-rating re21 quirements, standards, and processes for commercial 

22 crew transportation and rescue systems that are pro23 posed for transport of United States astronauts. 

24 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 

25 date of enactment of this Act, the Aerospace Safety 


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1 and Advisory Panel shall transmit to the Congress 

2 a report describing— 

3 (A) the Panel’s assessment of NASA’s cur4 rently established human-rating specifications 

5 and guidance; 

6 (B) the Panel’s view of the mandatory 

7 safety requirements that must be met with re8 gard to human rating; and 

9 (C) the steps NASA and the commercial 

10 space industry need to take to ensure that com11 mercial crew transportation and rescue vehicles 

12 have human rating requirements, standards, 

13 and processes equivalent to those of NASA. 

14 (h) INDEMNIFICATION AND LIABILITY.—The Admin15 istrator shall not proceed with a request for proposals, 

16 award any contract, or commit any United States Govern17 ment funds for a commercial ISS crew transportation or 

18 rescue service to be provided by a commercial service pro19 vider until all indemnification and liability issues associ20 ated with the use of such systems by the United States 

21 Government shall have been addressed and the Adminis22 trator has provided to the Congress a report describing 

23 the indemnification and liability provisions that are 

24 planned to be included in such contracts. 


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1 (i) PREDICTED LEVEL OF SAFETY.—The Adminis2 trator shall not award any contract or commit any United 

3 States Government funds for a commercial ISS crew 

4 transportation system service to a service provider unless 

5 that commercial crew transportation system has a pre6 dicted level of safety during ascent to low-Earth orbit, 

7 transit, and descent from low-Earth orbit that is not less 

8 than that specified for the Government system in section 

9 202(a)(5). 

10 SEC. 243. FEDERAL ASSISTANCE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT 

11 OF COMMERCIAL ORBITAL HUMAN SPACE 

12 TRANSPORTATION SERVICES. 

13 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator shall es14 tablish a program to provide financial assistance in the 

15 form of direct loans or loan guarantees to commercial enti16 ties for the costs of development of orbital human space 

17 transportation systems. 

18 (b) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—A loan or loan guarantee 

19 may be made under such program only for a project in 

20 the United States to develop commercial orbital human 

21 space transportation systems that would be used to pro22 vide transportation services to and from low Earth orbit. 

23 (c) ELIGIBLE BORROWER.—A loan or loan guarantee 

24 may be made under such program only for a borrower who 


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1 is determined by the Administrator to be eligible under 

2 the criteria established pursuant to subsection (i). 

3 (d) LIMITATIONS.—No loan or guarantee shall be 

4 made unless the Administrator determines that— 

5 (1) there is a reasonable prospect of repayment 

6 of the principal and interest on the obligation by the 

7 borrower; and 

8 (2) the amount of the obligation (when com9 bined with amounts available to the borrower from 

10 other sources which shall be a minimum of 25 per11 cent of the total expected project development cost) 

12 is sufficient to carry out the total development 

13 project. 

14 (e) SUPERIORITY OF RIGHTS.—The rights of the Ad15 ministrator, with respect to any property acquired pursu16 ant to a loan, shall be superior to the rights of any other 

17 person with respect to the property. 

18 (f) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—Notwithstanding any 

19 other provision of law, a loan or loan guarantee made pur20 suant to this section shall— 

21 (1) bear interest at an annual rate, as deter22 mined by the Administrator, of— 

23 (A) in the case of a direct loan— 


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1 (i) the cost of borrowing to the De2 partment of the Treasury for obligations of 

3 comparable maturity; or 

4 (ii) 4 percent; and 

5 (B) in the case of a guaranteed loan, the 

6 current applicable market rate for a loan of 

7 comparable maturity; and 

8 (2) have a term not to exceed 30 years. 

9 (g) CONSULTATION.—In establishing the terms and 

10 conditions of a loan or loan guarantee under this section, 

11 the Administrator shall consult with the Secretary of the 

12 Treasury. 

13 (h) FEES.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall 

15 charge and collect fees for loans and loan guarantees 

16 in amounts the Administrator determines are suffi17 cient to cover applicable administrative expenses. 

18 (2) AVAILABILITY.—Fees collected under this 

19 subsection shall— 

20 (A) be deposited by the Administrator into 

21 the Treasury of the United States; and 

22 (B) remain available until expended, sub23 ject to such other conditions as are contained in 

24 annual appropriations Acts. 


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1 (3) LIMITATION.—In charging and collecting 

2 fees under paragraph (1), the Administrator shall 

3 take into consideration the amount of the obligation. 

4 (i) REGULATIONS.—The Administrator shall issue 

5 final regulations before making any loan or loan guarantee 

6 under the program. Such regulations shall include— 

7 (1) criteria that the Administrator shall use to 

8 determine eligibility for loans and loan guarantees 

9 under this section, including whether a borrower 

10 demonstrates that a non-governmental market exists 

11 for the orbital human space transportation service, 

12 as evidenced by written statements of interest from 

13 potential purchasers of the services; 

14 (2) criteria that the Administrator shall use to 

15 determine the amount of any fees charged under 

16 subsection (h), including criteria related to the 

17 amount of the obligation; and 

18 (3) any other policies, procedures, or informa19 tion necessary to implement this section. 

20 (j) AUDIT.— 

21 (1) ANNUAL INDEPENDENT AUDITS.—The Ad22 ministrator shall enter into an arrangement with an 

23 independent auditor for annual evaluations of the 

24 program under this section. 


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1 (2) COMPTROLLER GENERAL REVIEW.—The 

2 Comptroller General of the United States shall con3 duct a biennial review of the Administrator’s execu4 tion of the program under this section. 

5 (3) REPORT.—The results of the independent 

6 audit under paragraph (1) and the Comptroller Gen7 eral’s review under paragraph (2) shall be provided 

8 directly to the Committee on Science and Tech9 nology of the House of Representatives and the 

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

12 (k) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Concurrent with the 

13 submission to Congress of the President’s annual budget 

14 request in each year after the date of enactment of this 

15 section, the Secretary shall transmit to the Committee on 

16 Science and Technology of the House of Representatives 

17 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor18 tation of the Senate a report containing a summary of 

19 all activities carried out under this section. 

20 (l) MINIMIZING RISK.—The Administrator shall pro21 mulgate regulations and policies to carry out this section 

22 in accordance with Office of Management and Budget Cir23 cular No. A–129, entitled ‘‘Policies for Federal Credit 

24 Programs and Non-Tax Receivables’’, as in effect on the 

25 date of enactment of this section. 


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1 (m) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

2 (1) COST.—The term ‘‘cost’’ has the meaning 

3 given such term under section 502 of the Federal 

4 Credit Reform Act of 1990 (2 U.S.C. 661a). 

5 (2) OBLIGATION.—The term ‘‘obligation’’ 

6 means the loan issued under this section or the loan 

7 or other debt obligation that is guaranteed under 

8 this section. 

9 (3) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 

10 the program established in subsection (a). 

11 TITLE III—SCIENCE 

12 Subtitle A—Earth Science 

13 SEC. 301. EARTH SCIENCE APPLICATIONS. 

14 The Administrator shall develop guidelines and proce15 dures for entering into arrangements with State, local, re16 gional, tribal, and other Federal Government agencies that 

17 seek to benefit from ongoing NASA technical information, 

18 capabilities, and support related to Earth science applica19 tions and decision support systems. The guidelines and 

20 procedures shall include a definition of the partnership, 

21 milestones, cost-sharing, and project-relevant criteria for 

22 the project. The guidelines and procedures shall define ar23 rangements for reimbursement for Government services, 

24 as appropriate, including the use of NASA spacecraft and 

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1 sonnel for the purpose of aiding State, local, regional, trib2 al, and other Federal Government needs. 

3 SEC. 302. ESSENTIAL SPACE-BASED EARTH SCIENCE AND 

4 CLIMATE MEASUREMENTS. 

5 The Administrator, in cooperation with the Adminis6 trator of NOAA and other relevant Federal agencies, shall 

7 enter into an arrangement with the National Academies 

8 for a study, to be completed, and transmitted to the Con9 gress not later than 18 months after the date of enactment 

10 of this Act, to provide a prioritized list and definition of 

11 essential Earth science and climate measurements that 

12 should be collected with space-based means, and main13 tained and archived by the Federal Government on a con14 tinuous basis. The study shall also identify which measure15 ments could potentially be obtained through international 

16 partnerships, from data purchases or other arrangements 

17 with private or commercial entities, or from other relevant 

18 sources. 

19 SEC. 303. COMMERCIAL REMOTE SENSING DATA PUR20 CHASES PILOT PROJECT. 

21 (a) WORKSHOP.—Not later than 9 months after the 

22 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall or23 ganize a workshop including relevant commercial remote 

24 sensing data providers, scientists, and remote sensing data 

25 users, among other relevant stakeholders, to identify the 


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1 essential criteria for a pilot project for purchasing com2 mercial remote sensing data to support research in Earth 

3 science and for applied uses of the data to address State, 

4 local, regional, and tribal needs. The workshop shall ad5 dress lessons learned and recommendations related to past 

6 experience with commercial data purchases, including 

7 those outlined in the National Research Council report en8 titled ‘‘Toward New Partnerships in Remote Sensing: 

9 Government, the Private Sector, and Earth Science Re10 search’’. 

11 (b) PILOT PROJECT.—Not later than 18 months 

12 after the date of enactment of this Act, after consideration 

13 of the results of the workshop under subsection (a) and 

14 after obtaining relevant information from potential com15 mercial remote sensing data providers and users of such 

16 data, the Administrator shall establish a pilot project for 

17 the provision, through competitive solicitations, of com18 mercial remote sensing data to serve research and applied 

19 uses of the data to serve State, local, regional, and tribal 

20 needs. 

21 Subtitle B—Space Science 

22 SEC. 311. SUBORBITAL PROGRAMS. 

23 (a) RESPONSIBLE OFFICIAL.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall en25 sure that an individual who shall report directly to 


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1 the Associate Administrator of the Science Mission 

2 Directorate is designated to lead NASA’s suborbital 

3 and airborne program. 

4 (2) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The designated indi5 vidual shall be responsible for— 

6 (A) leading near-term and long-term stra7 tegic planning for the suborbital and airborne 

8 program; 

9 (B) ensuring the implementation of stra10 tegic and other relevant plans; 

11 (C) integrating NASA’s suborbital and air12 borne programs; 

13 (D) ensuring the productivity of the sub14 orbital facilities and assets as necessary to 

15 carry out the plans; 

16 (E) coordinating NASA’s suborbital activi17 ties with associated NASA offices and Centers, 

18 universities, and other external institutions; and 

19 (F) monitoring progress on meeting the 

20 strategic objectives for enhanced suborbital and 

21 airborne activities, NASA workforce develop22 ment, and integration of suborbital activities 

23 within NASA’s overall plans and priorities. 

24 (b) STRATEGIC PLAN.—Not later than 1 year after 

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


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1 provide to the Congress a strategic plan to support the 

2 full and productive use of NASA’s suborbital and airborne 

3 assets as a foundation for meeting its scientific research, 

4 engineering, workforce development, and education goals 

5 and objectives across NASA centers and mission direc6 torates and in partnership with universities and other rel7 evant external institutions. The strategic plan shall— 

8 (1) be developed in consultation with relevant 

9 NASA offices and Centers and with input from uni10 versities, nonprofit research institutions, and private 

11 industry; 

12 (2) identify the needs and priorities for using 

13 NASA’s airborne and suborbital assets to support 

14 NASA’s scientific research, engineering, workforce 

15 development, and educational goals; 

16 (3) identify and prioritize the required infra17 structure investments, including maintenance, up18 grades, and any enhanced facility or equipment ca19 pabilities, that are required to carry out the needs 

20 and priorities described in paragraph (2); and 

21 (4) provide an estimate of the budget require22 ments and a schedule and timeline for implementing 

23 the plan. 

24 (c) TRAINING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.— 

25 The Administrator shall, to the extent practicable, expand 


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1 the opportunities within NASA’s suborbital programs for 

2 training science and engineering students and for pro3 viding professional development for early career profes4 sionals. Training and development activities shall be ex5 panded consistent with the goals and objectives of the 

6 strategic plan to be developed under subsection (b). 

7 SEC. 312. EXPLORER PROGRAM. 

8 (a) REVIEW OF EXPLORER PROGRAM.— 

9 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 120 days 

10 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis11 trator shall enter into an arrangement with the Na12 tional Academies to conduct a review of the Explorer 

13 Program and offer any recommendations as it con14 siders necessary. 

15 (2) SCOPE.—Such review shall address at least 

16 the following: 

17 (A) A review of existing or recent Explorer 

18 program elements such as NASA’s University 

19 Class Explorer (UNEX), Small Explorer 

20 (SMEX), Medium Class Explorer (MIDEX), 

21 Explorers (EX), and Missions of Opportunity to 

22 assess the degree of— 

23 (i) innovation in instrumentation, and 

24 other technology and space mission ele25 ments; 


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1 (ii) flexibility and new approaches in 

2 management and collaboration; 

3 (iii) project implementation within the 

4 planned budget and schedule; and 

5 (iv) training opportunities for space 

6 scientists and engineers. 

7 (B) The status, capability, and availability 

8 of launch vehicles and infrastructure to support 

9 the Explorer program elements. 

10 (C) Projected launch capabilities and facili11 ties for Explorers, including private sector 

12 launch capabilities. 

13 (D) The frequency of Explorer missions. 

14 (E) The balance of Explorer missions 

15 among theme areas and between larger and 

16 smaller mission sizes. 

17 (F) The opportunities and challenges for 

18 partner participation in Explorer missions, in19 cluding international and interagency collabora20 tions. 

21 (G) The contributions of Explorers to a ro22 bust space science program, and the value of 

23 the Explorer Program for the Nation’s scientific 

24 research and engineering community, including 


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1 its impact on training of younger researchers 

2 and engineers. 

3 (3) REPORT.—Not later than 16 months after 

4 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 

5 shall transmit to the Congress the review and a plan 

6 for responding to the recommendations of the re7 view. 

8 SEC. 313. RADIOISOTOPE THERMOELECTRIC GENERATOR 

9 MATERIAL REQUIREMENTS AND SUPPLY. 

10 (a) ANALYSIS OF REQUIREMENTS AND RISKS.—The 

11 Administrator, in consultation with other Federal agen12 cies, shall conduct an analysis of NASA requirements for 

13 radioisotope power system material which is needed to 

14 carry out planned, high priority robotic missions in the 

15 solar system and other surface exploration activities be16 yond low-Earth orbit, as well as the risks to NASA mis17 sions in meeting those requirements, or any additional re18 quirements, due to a lack of adequate domestic production 

19 of radioisotope power system material. The analysis 

20 shall— 

21 (1) detail NASA’s current projected mission re22 quirements for radioisotope power system material; 

23 (2) explain the assumptions used to determine 

24 NASA’s requirements for the material, including— 


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1 (A) the planned use of Advanced Stirling 

2 Radioisotope Generator technology; 

3 (B) the status of and timeline for com4 pleting development and demonstration of the 

5 Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generator tech6 nology, including the development of flight 

7 readiness requirements; and 

8 (C) the risks, implications, and contin9 gencies for NASA mission plans of any delays 

10 or unanticipated technical challenges related to 

11 the anticipated use of Advanced Stirling Radio12 isotope Generator technology; 

13 (3) assess the risk to NASA programs of any 

14 potential delays in achieving the schedule and mile15 stones for planned domestic production of radioiso16 tope power system material; 

17 (4) outline a process for meeting any additional 

18 NASA requirements for the material; and 

19 (5) estimate the incremental costs required to 

20 increase the amount of material produced each year, 

21 if such an increase is needed to support additional 

22 NASA requirements for the material. 

23 (b) TRANSMITTAL.—Not later than 180 days after 

24 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in 


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1 consultation with other Federal agencies, shall transmit 

2 the results of the analysis to the Congress. 

3 TITLE IV—AERONAUTICS 

4 SEC. 401. ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY AIRCRAFT RE5 SEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE. 

6 Section 302 of the National Aeronautics and Space 

7 Administration Authorization Act of 2008 (42 U.S.C. 

8 17721) is amended— 

9 (1) by striking ‘‘The Administrator’’ and insert10 ing the following: 

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator’’; and 

12 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(b) PLAN.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall 

15 develop a plan and associated timetable for this ini16 tiative identifying key milestones, including projected 

17 flight demonstrations to validate vehicle and tech18 nology concepts in a relevant environment. 

19 ‘‘(2) SUBMISSION.—Not later than 270 days 

20 after the date of enactment of the National Aero21 nautics and Space Administration Authorization Act 

22 of 2010, the Administrator shall transmit the plan 

23 to the Congress.’’. 


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1 SEC. 402. RESEARCH ON NEXTGEN AIRSPACE MANAGE2 MENT CONCEPTS AND TOOLS. 

3 The Administrator shall review at least annually the 

4 alignment and timing of NASA’s research and develop5 ment activities in support of the NextGen airspace man6 agement modernization initiative and shall make any nec7 essary adjustments by reprioritizing or retargeting 

8 NASA’s research and development activities in support of 

9 the NextGen initiative. 

10 SEC. 403. RESEARCH ON AIRCRAFT CABIN AIR QUALITY. 

11 The Administrator shall initiate research on aircraft 

12 cabin air quality that complements research conducted by 

13 the Federal Aviation Administration and its Center of Ex14 cellence on Research in the Intermodal Transport Envi15 ronment, including research on innovative aircraft cabin 

16 air quality sensors operating during ground and flight op17 erations and on innovative warning and mitigation tech18 nologies for poor air quality. 

19 SEC. 404. RESEARCH ON ON-BOARD VOLCANIC ASH SENSOR 

20 SYSTEMS. 

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

22 a study to assess the feasibility of establishing a project 

23 focused on the development of a low-cost on-board volcanic 

24 ash sensor system. 

25 (b) SPECIFICATIONS.—The study shall consider, at a 

26 minimum— 


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1 (1) NASA’s unique capabilities; 

2 (2) opportunities for collaboration, both nation3 ally and internationally; and 

4 (3) projected resource requirements, research 

5 milestones, and potential accomplishments. 

6 SEC. 405. AERONAUTICS TEST FACILITIES. 

7 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the Con8 gress that— 

9 (1) NASA must reverse the deteriorating condi10 tion of its aeronautics ground test facilities and in11 frastructure, as this condition is hampering the ef12 fectiveness and efficiency of aeronautics research 

13 performed by both NASA and industry participants 

14 making use of NASA facilities, thus reducing the 

15 competitiveness of the United States aviation indus16 try; 

17 (2) NASA has a role in providing test capabili18 ties that are not economically viable as commercial 

19 entities and thus are not available elsewhere; and 

20 (3) to ensure continued access to reliable and 

21 efficient national-class test capabilities by research22 ers, NASA should seek to establish strategic part23 nerships with other Federal agencies, academic insti24 tutions, and industry. 


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1 (b) PLAN.—The Administrator shall develop a plan 

2 to stabilize and, where possible, reverse the deterioration 

3 of NASA’s aeronautics ground test facilities. 

4 SEC. 406. EXPANDED RESEARCH PROGRAM ON COMPOSITE 

5 MATERIALS USED IN AEROSPACE. 

6 The Administrator shall expand NASA’s research 

7 program on composite materials used in aerospace appli8 cations to address— 

9 (1) progressive damage analysis, aging, inspec10 tion techniques, and new manufacturing and repair 

11 techniques; and 

12 (2) ways to mitigate how the environment, op13 erating fluids, and mechanical loads interact with 

14 composite materials over time. 

15 TITLE V—SPACE TECHNOLOGY 

16 SEC. 501. SPACE TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM. 

17 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator shall es18 tablish a space technology program to enable research and 

19 development on advanced space technologies and systems 

20 that are independent of specific space mission flight 

21 projects. The program shall support— 

22 (1) early-stage concepts and innovation; 

23 (2) development of innovative technologies in 

24 areas such as in-space propulsion, power generation 

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1 tures, and materials that may enable new ap2 proaches to human and robotic space missions; and 

3 (3) flight demonstrations of technologies, in4 cluding those that have the potential to benefit mul5 tiple NASA mission directorates, other Federal Gov6 ernment agencies, and the commercial space indus7 try. 

8 (b) PROCEDURE.—In establishing the space tech9 nology program under this section, the Administrator 

10 shall— 

11 (1) to the maximum extent practicable, use a 

12 competitive process to select projects to be supported 

13 as part of the program; 

14 (2) support the development of an organization 

15 to investigate innovative concepts for technological 

16 approaches, systems, architectures, or mission strat17 egies; 

18 (3) make use of small satellites and NASA sub19 orbital platforms, to the extent practicable, to dem20 onstrate space technology concepts and develop21 ments; and 

22 (4) undertake partnerships with other Federal 

23 agencies, universities, private industry, and other 

24 spacefaring nations, as appropriate. 


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1 (c) DECADAL SURVEY.—The Administrator shall 

2 enter into an arrangement with the National Academies 

3 for a decadal survey study to make recommendations for 

4 research and development priorities for NASA’s space 

5 technology program over the next decade. Included in the 

6 decadal survey shall be an identification and prioritization 

7 of key technology research and development activities 

8 needed to enable a robust exploration technology program, 

9 from basic research and development through flight dem10 onstrations. The Administrator shall transmit the results 

11 of the study to the Congress not later than 20 months 

12 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

13 TITLE VI—EDUCATION AND 

14 OUTREACH 

15 SEC. 601. STEM EDUCATION AND TRAINING. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—In order to create the diverse, 

17 skilled scientific and technical workforce essential to meet18 ing the challenges facing NASA and the Nation in the 

19 21st century, the Administrator shall develop, conduct, 

20 support, promote, and coordinate formal and informal 

21 educational and training activities that leverage NASA’s 

22 unique content expertise and facilities to— 

23 (1) contribute to improving science, technology, 

24 engineering and mathematics (STEM) education 

25 and training at all levels in the United States; and 


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1 (2) enhance awareness and understanding of 

2 STEM, including space and Earth sciences, aero3 nautics, and engineering. 

4 (b) PROGRAMS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall 

6 carry out evidence-based programs designed to— 

7 (A) increase student interest and participa8 tion, including by women and underrepresented 

9 minority students; 

10 (B) improve public literacy and support; 

11 and 

12 (C) improve the teaching and learning of 

13 space and Earth sciences, aeronautics, engi14 neering, and other STEM disciplines supported 

15 by NASA. 

16 (2) INCLUDED PROGRAMS.—Programs author17 ized under this subsection may include— 

18 (A) informal educational programming de19 signed to excite and inspire students and the 

20 general public about space and Earth science, 

21 aeronautics, engineering, and other STEM dis22 ciplines supported by NASA while strength23 ening their content knowledge in these dis24 ciplines; 


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1 (B) teacher training and professional de2 velopment opportunities for pre-service and in3 service elementary and secondary school teach4 ers designed to increase the content knowledge 

5 of teachers in space and Earth science, aero6 nautics, engineering, and other STEM dis7 ciplines supported by NASA, especially through 

8 hands-on research and technology experiences; 

9 (C) research opportunities for secondary 

10 school students, including internships at NASA 

11 and its field centers, that provide secondary 

12 school students with hands-on research and 

13 technology experiences as well as exposure to 

14 working scientists and engineers; 

15 (D) research opportunities at NASA and 

16 its field centers for undergraduate and graduate 

17 students pursuing degrees in space and Earth 

18 sciences, aeronautics, engineering, and other 

19 STEM disciplines supported by NASA; 

20 (E) competitive scholarships, fellowships, 

21 and traineeships for undergraduate and grad22 uate students in space and Earth sciences, aer23 onautics, engineering, and other STEM dis24 ciplines supported by NASA; and 


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1 (F) competitive grants for institutions of 

2 higher education (as defined under section 

3 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

4 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a))), including 2-year institu5 tions of higher education, to establish or expand 

6 degree programs or courses in space and Earth 

7 sciences, aeronautics, engineering, and other 

8 STEM disciplines supported by NASA. 

9 (c) ORGANIZATION OF STEM EDUCATION PRO10 GRAMS.— 

11 (1) DIRECTOR OF STEM EDUCATION.—The Ad12 ministrator shall appoint or designate a Director of 

13 STEM Education, who shall have the principal re14 sponsibility to oversee and coordinate all NASA pro15 grams and activities in support of STEM education 

16 and training, including space and Earth sciences, 

17 aeronautics, and engineering. 

18 (2) QUALIFICATIONS.—The Director shall be an 

19 individual who, by reason of professional background 

20 and experience, is specially qualified to advise the 

21 Administrator on all matters pertaining to STEM 

22 education and training, including space and Earth 

23 sciences, aeronautics, and engineering, at NASA. 

24 (3) DUTIES.—The Director shall— 


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1 (A) oversee and coordinate all programs in 

2 support of STEM education and training, in3 cluding space and Earth sciences, aeronautics, 

4 and engineering; 

5 (B) represent NASA as the principal inter6 agency liaison for all STEM education and 

7 training programs, unless otherwise represented 

8 by the Administrator or the Associate Adminis9 trator for Education; 

10 (C) prepare the annual budget and advise 

11 the Associate Administrator for Education and 

12 the Administrator on all budgetary issues for 

13 STEM education and training relative to the 

14 programs of NASA; 

15 (D) establish, periodically update, and 

16 maintain a publicly accessible online inventory 

17 of STEM education and training programs and 

18 activities; 

19 (E) develop, implement, and update the 

20 STEM education and training strategic plan re21 quired under subsection (d); 

22 (F) increase, to the maximum extent prac23 ticable, the participation and advancement of 

24 women and underrepresented minorities at 


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1 every level of STEM education and training; 

2 and 

3 (G) perform such other matters relating to 

4 STEM education and training as are required 

5 by the Administrator or the Associate Adminis6 trator for Education. 

7 (d) STRATEGIC PLAN.—The Director of STEM Edu8 cation shall develop, implement, and update once every 3 

9 years a STEM education and training strategic plan for 

10 NASA. The plan shall— 

11 (1) identify and prioritize annual and long-term 

12 STEM education and training goals and objectives 

13 for NASA; 

14 (2) describe the role of each NASA program or 

15 activity in contributing to the goals and objectives 

16 identified under paragraph (1); 

17 (3) specify the metrics that will be used to as18 sess progress toward achieving those goals and ob19 jectives; and 

20 (4) describe the approaches that will be taken 

21 to assess the effectiveness of each STEM education 

22 program and activity supported by NASA. 

23 (e) OUTREACH TO STUDENTS FROM UNDERREP24 RESENTED GROUPS.—In carrying out a program author25 ized under this section, the Administrator shall give conVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:16 Jul 21, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00079 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5781.IH H5781

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1 sideration to the goal of promoting the participation of 

2 individuals identified in sections 33 and 34 of the Science 

3 and Engineering Equal Opportunities Act (42 U.S.C. 

4 1885a; 1885b). 

5 (f) CONSULTATION AND PARTNERSHIP WITH OTHER

6 AGENCIES.—In carrying out the programs and activities 

7 authorized under this section, the Administrator shall— 

8 (1) consult with the Secretary of Education and 

9 the Director of the National Science Foundation re10 garding activities designed to improve elementary 

11 and secondary STEM education and training; and 

12 (2) consult and partner with the Director of the 

13 National Science Foundation in carrying out pro14 grams under this section designed to build capacity 

15 in STEM education and training at the under16 graduate and graduate level. 

17 SEC. 602. ASSESSMENT OF IMPEDIMENTS TO SPACE 

18 SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING WORKFORCE 

19 DEVELOPMENT FOR MINORITY AND UNDER20 REPRESENTED GROUPS AT NASA. 

21 (a) ASSESSMENT.—The Administrator shall enter 

22 into an arrangement for an independent assessment of any 

23 impediments to space science and engineering workforce 

24 development for minority and underrepresented groups at 

25 NASA, including recommendations on— 


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1 (1) measures to address such impediments; 

2 (2) opportunities for augmenting the impact of 

3 space science and engineering workforce development 

4 activities and for expanding proven, effective pro5 grams; and 

6 (3) best practices and lessons learned, as identi7 fied through the assessment, to help maximize the 

8 effectiveness of existing and future programs to in9 crease the participation of minority and underrep10 resented groups in the space science and engineering 

11 workforce at NASA. 

12 (b) REPORT.—A report on the assessment carried out 

13 under subsection (a) shall be transmitted to the Congress 

14 not later than 15 months after the date of enactment of 

15 this Act. 

16 (c) IMPLEMENTATION.—To the extent practicable, 

17 the Administrator shall take all necessary steps to address 

18 any impediments identified in the assessment. 

19 SEC. 603. INDEPENDENT REVIEW OF THE NATIONAL SPACE 

20 GRANT COLLEGE AND FELLOWSHIP PRO21 GRAM. 

22 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the Con23 gress that— 

24 (1) the National Space Grant College and Fel25 lowship Program, established in title II of the NaVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:16 Jul 21, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00081 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5781.IH H5781

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1 tional Aeronautics and Space Administration Au2 thorization Act of 1988 (42 U.S.C. 2486 et seq.), 

3 has been an important program through which the 

4 Federal Government has partnered with State and 

5 local governments, universities, private industry, and 

6 other organizations to enhance the understanding 

7 and use of space and aeronautics activities and their 

8 benefits through education, the fostering of inter9 disciplinary and multidisciplinary space research and 

10 training, and supporting Federal funding for grad11 uate fellowships in space-related fields; and 

12 (2) enhancing the National Space Grant College 

13 and Fellowship Program’s effectiveness will support 

14 the program’s maximum contribution to NASA’s 

15 and the Nation’s goals for science, technology, engi16 neering and mathematics (STEM) education and 

17 training. 

18 (b) REVIEW.—The Administrator shall enter into an 

19 arrangement with the National Academies for a review of 

20 the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Pro21 gram, including its structure and capabilities for sup22 porting STEM education and training, and recommenda23 tions on measures, if needed, to enhance the program’s 

24 effectiveness. 


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1 (c) TRANSMITTAL.—The Administrator shall trans2 mit the results of the review to the Congress not later than 

3 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act. 

4 TITLE VII—INSTITUTIONAL 

5 CAPABILITIES REVITALIZATION 

6 SEC. 701. INSTITUTIONAL MANAGEMENT. 

7 (a) MODERNIZATION OF LABORATORIES, FACILITIES, 

8 AND EQUIPMENT.— 

9 (1) STRATEGY.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

11 shall develop a strategy for the maintenance, 

12 repair, upgrading, and modernization of 

13 NASA’s laboratories, facilities, and equipment. 

14 (B) CRITERIA.—The strategy shall include 

15 criteria for prioritizing deferred maintenance 

16 tasks and also for upgrading or modernizing 

17 laboratories, facilities, and equipment. 

18 (2) PLAN.—The Administrator shall develop a 

19 plan for implementing the strategy in paragraph (1), 

20 including a timeline, milestones, and an estimate of 

21 resources required for carrying out the plan. 

22 (3) TRANSMITTAL TO CONGRESS.—The Admin23 istrator shall transmit to the Congress the strategy 

24 under paragraph (1) and the plan under paragraph 


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1 (2) not later than 180 days after the date of enact2 ment of this Act. 

3 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF CAPITAL FUND.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall es5 tablish a capital fund at each of NASA’s field cen6 ters for the modernization of facilities and labora7 tories. 

8 (2) SOURCE OF FUNDING.—The Administrator 

9 shall ensure to the maximum extent practicable that 

10 all financial savings achieved by closing outdated or 

11 surplus facilities at a NASA field center shall be 

12 made available to that center’s capital fund for the 

13 purpose of modernizing the field center’s facilities 

14 and laboratories and for upgrading the infrastruc15 ture at the field center. 

16 SEC. 702. JAMES E. WEBB COOPERATIVE EDUCATION DIS17 TINGUISHED SCHOLAR PROGRAM. 

18 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator is author19 ized to establish a national cooperative education program 

20 to complement existing NASA Center-administered coop21 erative education initiatives. 

22 (b) APPLICATION PROCESS.—The Administrator 

23 shall encourage and seek applications from the pool of 

24 American students pursuing science, technology, engineerVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:16 Jul 21, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00084 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5781.IH H5781

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1 ing, or mathematics degrees who wish to gain working ex2 perience in NASA. 

3 (c) SELECTION.—From the applications, the Admin4 istrator shall select 10 finalists annually as James E. 

5 Webb Cooperative Education Distinguished Scholars. 

6 (d) AWARD.—The James E. Webb Cooperative Edu7 cation Distinguished Scholars shall be provided with— 

8 (1) learning experiences that will enhance their 

9 understanding of activities conducted in the various 

10 NASA Centers in furtherance of NASA’s missions 

11 and priorities; 

12 (2) exposure to NASA headquarters functions 

13 and activities; and 

14 (3) stipends for living expenses. 

15 TITLE VIII—ACQUISITION 

16 MANAGEMENT 

17 SEC. 801. PROHIBITION ON EXPENDITURE OF FUNDS WHEN 

18 30 PERCENT THRESHOLD IS EXCEEDED. 

19 Section 103(e) of the National Aeronautics and Space 

20 Administration Authorization of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 

21 16613(e)) is amended by striking ‘‘beginning 18 months 

22 after the date the Administrator transmits a report under 

23 subsection (d)(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘beginning 18 months 

24 after the Administrator makes such determination’’. 


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1 SEC. 802. PROJECT AND PROGRAM RESERVES. 

2 To ensure that the establishment, maintenance, and 

3 allotment of project and program reserves contribute to 

4 prudent management, not later than 180 days after the 

5 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 

6 transmit to the Congress a report describing NASA’s cri7 teria for establishing the amount of reserves at the project 

8 and program levels and how such criteria complement 

9 NASA’s policy of budgeting at a 70 percent confidence 

10 level. 

11 SEC. 803. INDEPENDENT REVIEWS. 

12 Not later than 270 days after the date of enactment 

13 of this Act, the Administrator shall transmit to the Con14 gress a report describing NASA’s procedures for con15 ducting independent reviews of projects and programs at 

16 lifecycle milestones and how NASA ensures the independ17 ence of the individuals who conduct those reviews prior 

18 to their assignment. 

19 SEC. 804. AVOIDING ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICTS OF IN20 TEREST IN MAJOR NASA ACQUISITION PRO21 GRAMS. 

22 (a) REVISED REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—Not later 

23 than 270 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 

24 the Administrator shall revise the NASA Supplement to 

25 the Federal Acquisition Regulation to provide uniform 

26 guidance and tighten existing requirements for preventing 


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1 organizational conflicts of interest by contractors in major 

2 acquisition programs. 

3 (b) ELEMENTS.—The revised regulations required by 

4 subsection (a) shall, at a minimum— 

5 (1) address organizational conflicts of interest 

6 that could potentially arise as a result of— 

7 (A) lead system integrator contracts on 

8 major acquisition programs and contracts that 

9 follow lead system integrator contracts on such 

10 programs, particularly contracts for production; 

11 (B) the ownership of business units per12 forming systems engineering and technical as13 sistance functions, professional services, or 

14 management support services in relation to 

15 major acquisition programs by contractors who 

16 simultaneously own business units competing to 

17 perform as either the prime contractor or the 

18 supplier of a major subsystem or component for 

19 such programs; 

20 (C) the award of major subsystem con21 tracts by a prime contractor for a major acqui22 sition program to business units or other affili23 ates of the same parent corporate entity, and 

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1 ware integration or the development of a pro2 prietary software system architecture; or 

3 (D) the performance by, or assistance of, 

4 contractors in technical evaluations on major 

5 acquisition programs; 

6 (2) ensure that NASA receives advice, when ap7 propriate, on systems architecture and systems engi8 neering matters with respect to major acquisition 

9 programs from federally funded research and devel10 opment centers or other sources independent of the 

11 prime contractor; 

12 (3) require that a contract for the performance 

13 of systems engineering and technical assistance 

14 functions for a major acquisition program contains 

15 a provision prohibiting the contractor or any affiliate 

16 of the contractor from participating as a prime con17 tractor or a major subcontractor in the development 

18 of a system under the program; and 

19 (4) establish such limited exceptions to the re20 quirement in paragraphs (2) and (3) as may be nec21 essary to ensure that NASA has continued access to 

22 advice on systems architecture and systems engi23 neering matters from highly qualified contractors 

24 with domain experience and expertise, while ensuring 


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1 that such advice comes from sources that are objec2 tive and unbiased. 

3 SEC. 805. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

4 The Administrator shall transmit to the Congress, 

5 not later than April 30 of each year, an estimate of the 

6 total termination liability as of the end of the second fiscal 

7 quarter for all NASA contracts with a total value in excess 

8 of $200,000,000. 

9 TITLE IX—OTHER PROVISIONS 

10 SEC. 901. CLOUD COMPUTING. 

11 (a) DEFINITION.—As defined by the National Insti12 tute of Standards and Technology, for purposes of this 

13 section, the term ‘‘cloud computing’’ means a model for 

14 enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a 

15 shared pool of configurable computing resources that can 

16 be rapidly provisioned with minimal management effort or 

17 service provider interaction. 

18 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after NASA has 

19 entered into a contract for its first use of a non-Federal 

20 cloud computing facility, the Comptroller General shall 

21 transmit to the Congress a report detailing whether sen22 sitive but unclassified and classified NASA information 

23 was processed on that facility and if so, how NASA en24 sured that data access and security requirements were in 


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1 place to safeguard NASA’s scientific and technical infor2 mation. 

3 SEC. 902. REVIEW OF PRACTICES TO DETECT AND PRE4 VENT THE USE OF COUNTERFEIT PARTS. 

5 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

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

7 Congress a review of NASA’s processes and controls to 

8 detect and prevent the use of counterfeit parts in NASA 

9 mission projects and related assets. The review shall ex10 amine— 

11 (1) the trends in known and identified counter12 feit parts in NASA’s supply chain; 

13 (2) NASA’s processes and controls to detect 

14 counterfeit parts and prevent their incorporation 

15 into NASA mission projects, instruments, and other 

16 mission-related assets; and 

17 (3) any gaps in NASA’s controls and processes 

18 for detecting counterfeit part and preventing their 

19 incorporation into NASA missions and related as20 sets. 

21 SEC. 903. PRESERVATION AND MANAGEMENT OF LUNAR 

22 SITES. 

23 (a) INTERNATIONAL DIALOG.—The Director of 

24 OSTP, in cooperation of the Administrator, other relevant 

25 Federal agencies, commercial entities, and international 


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1 bodies, shall enter into a dialogue to identify the questions 

2 and research needed to understand— 

3 (1) the potential adverse impacts of various 

4 uses of the Moon on scientific research activities; 

5 (2) the potential adverse impacts of such uses 

6 on lunar areas of historical, cultural, or scientific 

7 value; and 

8 (3) how to prevent or mitigate such impacts. 

9 (b) GRANTS PROGRAM.—The Administrator, in co10 operation with other relevant Federal agencies and stake11 holders, shall establish a grants program to conduct re12 search for the purpose of identifying and characterizing 

13 potential impacts related to lunar activities and describing 

14 potential means for managing and mitigating the impacts. 

15 (c) INTERNATIONAL FRAMEWORK.—As a result of 

16 the dialog under subsection (a), the Director of OSTP 

17 shall initiate an effort to establish a framework for identi18 fying, protecting, and preserving lunar areas determined 

19 to be of significant historical, cultural, or scientific value. 

20 (d) REPORT.—The Director of OSTP shall provide 

21 a report on the results of the international dialog under 

22 subsection (a) and the establishment of an international 

23 framework under subsection (c), to be transmitted to the 

24 Congress not later than 2 years after the date of enact25 ment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 904. CONTINUITY OF MODERATE RESOLUTION LAND 

2 IMAGING REMOTE SENSING DATA. 

3 (a) REAFFIRMATION OF POLICY.—The Congress re4 affirms the finding in section 2(1) of the Land Remote 

5 Sensing Policy Act of 1992 (15 U.S.C. 5601(1)) which 

6 states that ‘‘The continuous collection and utilization of 

7 land remote sensing data from space are of major benefit 

8 in studying and understanding human impacts on the 

9 global environment, in managing the Earth’s natural re10 sources, in carrying out national security functions, and 

11 in planning and conducting many other activities of sci12 entific, economic, and social importance.’’. 

13 (b) CONTINUOUS LAND REMOTE SENSING DATA

14 COLLECTION.—The Director of OSTP shall take steps in 

15 consultation with other relevant Federal agencies to en16 sure, to the maximum extent practicable, the continuous 

17 collection of space-based medium-resolution observations 

18 of the Earth’s land cover and to ensure that the data are 

19 made available in such ways as to facilitate the widest pos20 sible use. 

21 SEC. 905. SPACE WEATHER. 

22 (a) STRATEGY AND IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—The 

23 Director of OSTP, in coordination with the Administrator 

24 and with other relevant Federal agencies, space weather 

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1 able space weather program and develop a plan to imple2 ment the strategy. The implementation plan shall— 

3 (1) define individual agency responsibilities for 

4 carrying out the strategy; 

5 (2) identify the milestones and schedule re6 quired for each agency’s contributions; 

7 (3) provide an estimate of the resources re8 quired for each agency to carry out its responsibil9 ities; 

10 (4) establish a process for coordinating agency 

11 responsibilities, programs, and budgets required for 

12 implementing the plan; and 

13 (5) identify opportunities for private sector and 

14 international contributions to implementing the plan. 

15 (b) STUDY ON PREDICTION.—The Director of OSTP 

16 shall enter into an arrangement with the National Acad17 emies to assess the status of capabilities for space weather 

18 prediction and recommend the highest priority basic re19 search, infrastructure, and operational needs required to 

20 improve the Nation’s ability to predict space weather 

21 events. The study should also address the benefits of space 

22 weather prediction. The Director shall transmit the results 

23 of the study to the Congress not later than 18 months 

24 after the date of enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 906. USE OF OPERATIONAL COMMERCIAL SUB2 ORBITAL VEHICLES FOR RESEARCH, DEVEL3 OPMENT, AND EDUCATION. 

4 (a) PLAN.—The Administrator shall prepare a plan 

5 describing the processes required to support the potential 

6 use of commercial reusable suborbital flight vehicles, once 

7 demonstrated and proven successful on an operational 

8 basis, for carrying out competitively selected scientific and 

9 engineering investigations and educational activities. The 

10 plan shall— 

11 (1) describe NASA, space flight operator, and 

12 supporting contractor responsibilities for developing 

13 standard payload interfaces, conducting payload 

14 safety analyses, payload integration and processing, 

15 payload operations, and safety assurance for NASA16 sponsored space flight participants, among other 

17 functions required to fly NASA-sponsored payloads 

18 and space flight participants on commercial sub19 orbital vehicles; 

20 (2) identify NASA-provided hardware, software, 

21 or services that may be provided to space flight op22 erators on a cost-reimbursable basis, through agree23 ments entered into under section 203(c)(5) of the 

24 National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 (42 

25 U.S.C. 2473(c)(5)), or on a contractual basis; and 


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1 (3) describe the United States Government and 

2 space flight operator responsibilities for liability and 

3 indemnification with respect to commercial sub4 orbital vehicle flights that involve NASA-sponsored 

5 payloads or activities, NASA-supported space flight 

6 participants, or other NASA-related contributions. 

7 (b) COMMERCIAL REUSABLE SUBORBITAL CAPABILI8 TIES AND RISKS.—The Administrator shall assess and 

9 characterize the potential capabilities and performance of 

10 commercial reusable suborbital vehicles for addressing sci11 entific research, including research requiring access to low 

12 gravity and microgravity environments, for carrying out 

13 technology demonstrations related to science, exploration, 

14 or space operations requirements, and for providing oppor15 tunities for educating and training space scientists and en16 gineers, once those vehicles become operational. The as17 sessment shall also characterize the risks of using poten18 tial commercial reusable suborbital flights to NASA-spon19 sored researchers, investigators, and scientific investiga20 tions and flight hardware. The Administrator shall make 

21 a determination on the need to enter into arrangements 

22 with commercial reusable suborbital service providers for 

23 flights or flight services to acquire analytical data to in24 form the assessment. 


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1 (c) TRANSMITTAL.—The plan and assessment de2 scribed in subsections (a) and (b) shall be transmitted to 

3 the Congress not later than 1 year after the date of enact4 ment of this Act. 

5 (d) INDEMNIFICATION AND LIABILITY.—The Admin6 istrator shall not proceed with a request for proposals, 

7 award any contract, commit any United States Govern8 ment funds, or enter into any other agreement for the pro9 vision of a commercial reusable suborbital vehicle launch 

10 service until all indemnification and liability issues associ11 ated with the use of such systems by the United States 

12 Government shall have been addressed and the Adminis13 trator has provided to the Congress a report describing 

14 the indemnification and liability provisions that are 

15 planned to be included in such contracts or agreements. 

16 SEC. 907. STUDY ON EXPORT CONTROL MATTERS RELATED 

17 TO UNITED STATES ASTRONAUT SAFETY AND 

18 NASA MISSION OPERATIONS. 

19 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director of OSTP, in 

20 consultation with the Administrator and other relevant 

21 Federal agencies, shall conduct a study to examine the 

22 need for a process for granting real-time, limited waivers 

23 to export control license restrictions or regulations that 

24 are necessary for United States Government entities and 

25 contractors to enter into technical discussions and to share 


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1 technical data with foreign government entities and con2 tractors to resolve anomalies that may— 

3 (1) threaten the safety of United States astro4 nauts aboard cooperative crewed spacecraft such as 

5 the ISS; or 

6 (2) impair the operations of international civil 

7 research and other spacecraft that involve the na8 tional interests of the United States. 

9 (b) TRANSMITTAL.—The results of the study shall be 

10 transmitted to the Congress not later than 1 year after 

11 the date of enactment of this Act. 

12 SEC. 908. AMENDMENT TO THE NATIONAL AERONAUTICS 

13 AND SPACE ACT OF 1958. 

14 Section 202 of the National Aeronautics and Space 

15 Act of 1958 (42 U.S.C. 2472) is amended by adding at 

16 the end the following new subsection: 

17 ‘‘(d) The Administrator and the Deputy Adminis18 trator may be retired commissioned military personnel.’’. 

19 SEC. 909. NEAR-EARTH OBJECTS. 

20 (a) RESPONSIBLE OFFICIAL.—The Administrator 

21 shall designate a responsible official for coordinating 

22 NASA’s near-Earth object observation activities and 

23 NASA’s interactions with other Federal agencies and 

24 international entities on near-Earth object surveys, de25 fense, and efforts related to addressing any threats to the 


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1 United States posed by near-Earth objects. The respon2 sible official shall report directly to the Administrator. 

3 (b) REAFFIRMATION OF POLICY ON NEAR-EARTH

4 OBJECT SURVEY.—The Congress reaffirms the direction 

5 set forth in section 321(d)(1) of the National Aeronautics 

6 and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2005 (42 

7 U.S.C. 16691(d)(1)) that directed the Administrator ‘‘to 

8 plan, develop, and implement a Near-Earth Object Survey 

9 program to detect, track, catalogue, and characterize the 

10 physical characteristics of near-Earth objects equal to or 

11 greater than 140 meters in diameter in order to assess 

12 the threat of such near-Earth objects to the Earth’’. 

13 (c) PLAN.—Not later than 270 days after the date 

14 of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall transmit 

15 to the Congress a plan for carrying out the direction re16 affirmed by subsection (b). 

17 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—From 

18 the funds authorized for Planetary Science in title I, 

19 $1,000,000 in fiscal year 2012 and $1,000,000 in fiscal 

20 year 2013 shall be for supporting competitively awarded 

21 grants for investigation of innovative approaches to car22 rying out the congressionally mandated survey of near23 Earth objects equal to or greater than 140 meters in di24 ameter, and $5,000,000 in fiscal year 2014 and 

25 $5,000,000 in fiscal year 2015 shall be for preliminary 


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99 

•HR 5781 IH

1 design and development work on an innovative concept for 

2 carrying out the Congressionally mandated survey of near3 Earth objects equal to or greater than 140 meters in di4 ameter. 

Æ 


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