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[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1694 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        S.1694

                     One Hundred Sixteenth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America

                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

           Begun and held at the City of Washington on Friday,
            the third day of January, two thousand and twenty

                                 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.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
    This Act may be cited as the ``One Small Step to Protect Human 
Heritage in Space Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.
    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
        (1) On July 16, 1969, the Apollo 11 spacecraft launched from 
    the John F. Kennedy Space Center carrying Neil A. Armstrong, Edwin 
    E. ``Buzz'' Aldrin, Jr., and Michael Collins.
        (2) July 20, 2019, marked the 50th anniversary of the date on 
    which the Apollo 11 spacecraft landed on the Moon and Neil 
    Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to set foot on a 
    celestial body off the Earth.
        (3) The landing of the Apollo 11 spacecraft and humanity's 
    first off-world footprints are achievements unparalleled in 
    history, a direct product of the work and perseverance of the more 
    than 400,000 individuals who contributed to the development of the 
    Apollo missions on the shoulders of centuries of science and 
    engineering pioneers from all corners of the world.
        (4) Among the thousands of individuals who have contributed to 
    the achievements of the National Aeronautics and Space 
    Administration (in this section referred to as ``NASA'') are 
    African-American women such as Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughn, 
    Mary Jackson, and Dr. Christine Darden, who made critical 
    contributions to NASA space programs. Katherine Johnson worked at 
    NASA for 35 years and calculated the trajectory of the Apollo 11 
    landing and the trajectories for the spaceflights of astronauts 
    Alan Shepard and John Glenn. Katherine Johnson, together with many 
    other individuals the work of whom often went unacknowledged, 
    helped broaden the scope of space travel and charted new frontiers 
    for humanity's exploration of space.
        (5) The landing of the Apollo 11 spacecraft was made on behalf 
    of all humankind, and Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were 
    accompanied by messages of peace from the leaders of more than 70 
    countries.
        (6) The lunar landing sites of the Apollo 11 spacecraft, the 
    robotic spacecraft that preceded the Apollo 11 mission, and the 
    crewed and robotic spacecraft that followed, are of outstanding 
    universal value to humanity.
        (7) Such landing sites--
            (A) are the first archaeological sites with human activity 
        that are not on Earth;
            (B) provide evidence of the first achievements of humankind 
        in the realm of space travel and exploration; and
            (C) contain artifacts and other evidence of human 
        exploration activities that remain a potential source of 
        cultural, historical, archaeological, anthropological, 
        scientific, and engineering knowledge.
        (8) On July 20, 2011, NASA published the voluntary guidance 
    entitled ``NASA's Recommendations to Space-Faring Entities: How to 
    Protect and Preserve the Historic and Scientific Value of U.S. 
    Government Lunar Artifacts''.
        (9) In March 2018, the Office of Science and Technology Policy 
    published a report entitled ``Protecting & Preserving Apollo 
    Program Lunar Landing Sites & Artifacts''.
        (10) Article one of the ``Treaty on Principles Governing the 
    Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, 
    including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies,'' commonly known as 
    the ``Outer Space Treaty,'' states ``[o]uter space, including the 
    moon and other celestial bodies, shall be free for exploration and 
    use by all States without discrimination of any kind, on a basis of 
    equality and in accordance with international law, and there shall 
    be free access to all areas of celestial bodies.''
        (11) Article eight of the Outer Space Treaty states, ``[a] 
    State Party to the Treaty on whose registry an object launched into 
    outer space is carried shall retain jurisdiction and control over 
    such object, and over any personnel thereof, while in outer space 
    or on a celestial body. Ownership of objects launched into outer 
    space, including objects landed or constructed on a celestial body, 
    and of their component parts, is not affected by their presence in 
    outer space or on a celestial body or by their return to the 
    Earth.''
        (12) Article nine of the Outer Space Treaty states, ``[i]n the 
    exploration and use of outer space, including the moon and other 
    celestial bodies, States Parties to the Treaty shall be guided by 
    the principle of co-operation and mutual assistance and shall 
    conduct all their activities in outer space, including the moon and 
    other celestial bodies, with due regard to the corresponding 
    interests of all other States Parties to the Treaty,'' and 
    continues, ``[i]f a State Party to the Treaty has reason to believe 
    that an activity or experiment planned by it or its nationals in 
    outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, would 
    cause potentially harmful interference with activities of other 
    States Parties in the peaceful exploration and use of outer space, 
    including the moon and other celestial bodies, it shall undertake 
    appropriate international consultations before proceeding with any 
    such activity or experiment. A State Party to the Treaty which has 
    reason to believe that an activity or experiment planned by another 
    State Party in outer space, including the moon and other celestial 
    bodies, would cause potentially harmful interference with 
    activities in the peaceful exploration and use of outer space, 
    including the moon and other celestial bodies, may request 
    consultation concerning the activity or experiment.''.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
        (1) as commercial enterprises and more countries acquire the 
    ability to land on the Moon, it is necessary to encourage the 
    development of best practices to respect the principle of due 
    regard and to limit harmful interference to the Apollo landing site 
    artifacts in acknowledgment of the human effort and innovation they 
    represent, as well as their archaeological, anthropological, 
    historical, scientific, and engineering significance and value; and
        (2) the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space 
    Administration should continue to develop best practices to respect 
    the principle of due regard and limit harmful interference with 
    historic Apollo lunar landing site artifacts.
SEC. 3. BEST PRACTICES RELATED TO APOLLO HISTORIC LUNAR LANDING SITE 
ARTIFACTS.
    (a) In General.--The Administrator of the National Aeronautics and 
Space Administration shall--
        (1) add the recommendations in subsection (b) as a condition or 
    requirement to contracts, grants, agreements, partnerships or other 
    arrangements pertaining to lunar activities carried out by, for, or 
    in partnership with the National Aeronautics and Space 
    Administration;
        (2) inform other relevant Federal agencies of the 
    recommendations described in subsection (b); and
        (3) encourage the use of best practices, consistent with the 
    recommendations in subsection (b), by other relevant Federal 
    agencies.
    (b) Recommendations Described.--The recommendations described in 
this subsection are--
        (1) ``NASA's Recommendations to Space-Faring Entities: How to 
    Protect and Preserve the Historic and Scientific Value of U.S. 
    Government Lunar Artifacts'' issued by the National Aeronautics and 
    Space Administration on July 20, 2011, and updated on October 28, 
    2011; and
        (2) any successor recommendations, guidelines, best practices, 
    or standards relating to the principle of due regard and the 
    limitation of harmful interference with Apollo landing site 
    artifacts issued by the National Aeronautics and Space 
    Administration.
    (c) Exemption.--The Administrator may waive the conditions or 
requirements from subsection (a)(1) as it applies to an individual 
contract, grant, agreement, partnership or other arrangement pertaining 
to lunar activities carried out by, for, or in partnership with the 
National Aeronautics and Space Administration so long as--
        (1) such waiver is accompanied by a finding from the 
    Administrator that carrying out the obligation of subsection (a)(1) 
    would be unduly prohibitive to an activity or activities of 
    legitimate and significant historical, archaeological, 
    anthropological, scientific, or engineering value; and
        (2) the finding in paragraph (1) is provided to the Committee 
    on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives 
    and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 
    Senate not later than 30 days prior to the waiver taking effect.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.
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