In the House of Representatives, U. S., 

December 16, 2020. 

Resolved, That the bill from the Senate (S. 1694) entitled ‘‘An Act to require any Federal agency that issues licenses to conduct lunar activities to include in the requirements for such licenses an agreement relating to the preservation and protection of the Apollo 11 landing site, and for 

other purposes.’’, do pass with the following 

AMENDMENTS: 

Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert: 

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘One Small Step to Pro3 tect Human Heritage in Space Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

5 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following findings: 

6 (1) On July 16, 1969, the Apollo 11 spacecraft 

7 launched from the John F. Kennedy Space Center 

8 carrying Neil A. Armstrong, Edwin E. ‘‘Buzz’’ 

9 Aldrin, Jr., and Michael Collins. 

10 (2) July 20, 2019, marked the 50th anniversary 

11 of the date on which the Apollo 11 spacecraft landed 

12 on the Moon and Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin be13 came the first humans to set foot on a celestial body 

14 off the Earth. 
2 

•S 1694 EAH 

1 (3) The landing of the Apollo 11 spacecraft and 

2 humanity’s first off-world footprints are achievements 

3 unparalleled in history, a direct product of the work 

4 and perseverance of the more than 400,000 individ5 uals who contributed to the development of the Apollo 

6 missions on the shoulders of centuries of science and 

7 engineering pioneers from all corners of the world. 

8 (4) Among the thousands of individuals who 

9 have contributed to the achievements of the National 

10 Aeronautics and Space Administration (in this sec11 tion referred to as ‘‘NASA’’) are African-American 

12 women such as Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughn, 

13 Mary Jackson, and Dr. Christine Darden, who made 

14 critical contributions to NASA space programs. Kath15 erine Johnson worked at NASA for 35 years and cal16 culated the trajectory of the Apollo 11 landing and 

17 the trajectories for the spaceflights of astronauts Alan 

18 Shepard and John Glenn. Katherine Johnson, to19 gether with many other individuals the work of whom 

20 often went unacknowledged, helped broaden the scope 

21 of space travel and charted new frontiers for human22 ity’s exploration of space. 

23 (5) The landing of the Apollo 11 spacecraft was 

24 made on behalf of all humankind, and Neil Arm25 strong and Buzz Aldrin were accompanied by mes-
3 

•S 1694 EAH 

1 sages of peace from the leaders of more than 70 coun2 tries. 

3 (6) The lunar landing sites of the Apollo 11 

4 spacecraft, the robotic spacecraft that preceded the 

5 Apollo 11 mission, and the crewed and robotic space6 craft that followed, are of outstanding universal value 

7 to humanity. 

8 (7) Such landing sites— 

9 (A) are the first archaeological sites with 

10 human activity that are not on Earth; 

11 (B) provide evidence of the first achieve12 ments of humankind in the realm of space travel 

13 and exploration; and 

14 (C) contain artifacts and other evidence of 

15 human exploration activities that remain a po16 tential source of cultural, historical, archae17 ological, anthropological, scientific, and engi18 neering knowledge. 

19 (8) On July 20, 2011, NASA published the vol20 untary guidance entitled ‘‘NASA’s Recommendations 

21 to Space-Faring Entities: How to Protect and Pre22 serve the Historic and Scientific Value of U.S. Gov23 ernment Lunar Artifacts’’. 

24 (9) In March 2018, the Office of Science and 

25 Technology Policy published a report entitled ‘‘Pro-
4 

•S 1694 EAH 

1 tecting & Preserving Apollo Program Lunar Landing 

2 Sites & Artifacts’’. 

3 (10) Article one of the ‘‘Treaty on Principles 

4 Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration 

5 and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and 

6 Other Celestial Bodies,’’ commonly known as the 

7 ‘‘Outer Space Treaty,’’ states ‘‘[o]uter space, includ8 ing the moon and other celestial bodies, shall be free 

9 for exploration and use by all States without dis10 crimination of any kind, on a basis of equality and 

11 in accordance with international law, and there shall 

12 be free access to all areas of celestial bodies.’’ 

13 (11) Article eight of the Outer Space Treaty 

14 states, ‘‘[a] State Party to the Treaty on whose reg15 istry an object launched into outer space is carried 

16 shall retain jurisdiction and control over such object, 

17 and over any personnel thereof, while in outer space 

18 or on a celestial body. Ownership of objects launched 

19 into outer space, including objects landed or con20 structed on a celestial body, and of their component 

21 parts, is not affected by their presence in outer space 

22 or on a celestial body or by their return to the 

23 Earth.’’ 

24 (12) Article nine of the Outer Space Treaty 

25 states, ‘‘[i]n the exploration and use of outer space, 
5 

•S 1694 EAH 

1 including the moon and other celestial bodies, States 

2 Parties to the Treaty shall be guided by the principle 

3 of co-operation and mutual assistance and shall con4 duct all their activities in outer space, including the 

5 moon and other celestial bodies, with due regard to 

6 the corresponding interests of all other States Parties 

7 to the Treaty,’’ and continues, ‘‘[i]f a State Party to 

8 the Treaty has reason to believe that an activity or 

9 experiment planned by it or its nationals in outer 

10 space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, 

11 would cause potentially harmful interference with ac12 tivities of other States Parties in the peaceful explo13 ration and use of outer space, including the moon 

14 and other celestial bodies, it shall undertake appro15 priate international consultations before proceeding 

16 with any such activity or experiment. A State Party 

17 to the Treaty which has reason to believe that an ac18 tivity or experiment planned by another State Party 

19 in outer space, including the moon and other celestial 

20 bodies, would cause potentially harmful interference 

21 with activities in the peaceful exploration and use of 

22 outer space, including the moon and other celestial 

23 bodies, may request consultation concerning the activ24 ity or experiment.’’. 
6 

•S 1694 EAH 

1 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Congress 

2 that— 

3 (1) as commercial enterprises and more countries 

4 acquire the ability to land on the Moon, it is nec5 essary to encourage the development of best practices 

6 to respect the principle of due regard and to limit 

7 harmful interference to the Apollo landing site arti8 facts in acknowledgment of the human effort and in9 novation they represent, as well as their archae10 ological, anthropological, historical, scientific, and en11 gineering significance and value; and 

12 (2) the Administrator of the National Aero13 nautics and Space Administration should continue to 

14 develop best practices to respect the principle of due 

15 regard and limit harmful interference with historic 

16 Apollo lunar landing site artifacts. 

17 SEC. 3. BEST PRACTICES RELATED TO APOLLO HISTORIC 

18 LUNAR LANDING SITE ARTIFACTS. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the National 

20 Aeronautics and Space Administration shall— 

21 (1) add the recommendations in subsection (b) as 

22 a condition or requirement to contracts, grants, agree23 ments, partnerships or other arrangements pertaining 

24 to lunar activities carried out by, for, or in partner-
7 

•S 1694 EAH 

1 ship with the National Aeronautics and Space Ad2 ministration; 

3 (2) inform other relevant Federal agencies of the 

4 recommendations described in subsection (b); and 

5 (3) encourage the use of best practices, consistent 

6 with the recommendations in subsection (b), by other 

7 relevant Federal agencies. 

8 (b) RECOMMENDATIONS DESCRIBED.—The rec9 ommendations described in this subsection are— 

10 (1) ‘‘NASA’s Recommendations to Space-Faring 

11 Entities: How to Protect and Preserve the Historic 

12 and Scientific Value of U.S. Government Lunar Arti13 facts’’ issued by the National Aeronautics and Space 

14 Administration on July 20, 2011, and updated on 

15 October 28, 2011; and 

16 (2) any successor recommendations, guidelines, 

17 best practices, or standards relating to the principle 

18 of due regard and the limitation of harmful inter19 ference with Apollo landing site artifacts issued by the 

20 National Aeronautics and Space Administration. 

21 (c) EXEMPTION.—The Administrator may waive the 

22 conditions or requirements from subsection (a)(1) as it ap23 plies to an individual contract, grant, agreement, partner24 ship or other arrangement pertaining to lunar activities 
8 

•S 1694 EAH 

1 carried out by, for, or in partnership with the National Aer2 onautics and Space Administration so long as— 

3 (1) such waiver is accompanied by a finding 

4 from the Administrator that carrying out the obliga5 tion of subsection (a)(1) would be unduly prohibitive 

6 to an activity or activities of legitimate and signifi7 cant historical, archaeological, anthropological, sci8 entific, or engineering value; and 

9 (2) the finding in paragraph (1) is provided to 

10 the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of 

11 the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

12 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate 

13 not later than 30 days prior to the waiver taking ef14 fect. 

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘An Act to require 

the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to 

add recommendations and inform other relevant agencies 

of information relating to the principle of due regard and 

the limitation of harmful interference with Apollo landing 

site artifacts, and for other purposes.’’. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1694 

AMENDMENTS