II 

Calendar No. 152 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1694 

To require any Federal agency that issues licenses to conduct activities 

in outer space 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. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 23 (legislative day, MAY 22), 2019 

Mr. PETERS (for himself, Mr. CRUZ, Mr. BROWN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. 

MARKEY, and Mrs. CAPITO) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

JULY 16, 2019 

Reported by Mr. WICKER, with an amendment and an amendment to the title 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To require any Federal agency that issues licenses to conduct 

activities in outer space 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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘One Small Step to 

3 Protect Human Heritage in Space Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

5 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find6 ings: 

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

8 launched from the John F. Kennedy Space Center 

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

10 Aldrin, Jr., and Michael Collins. 

11 (2) July 20, 2019, will mark the 50th anniver12 sary of the date on which the Apollo 11 spacecraft 

13 landed on the Moon and Neil Armstrong and Buzz 

14 Aldrin became the first humans to set foot on a ce15 lestial body off the Earth. 

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

17 humanity’s first off-world footprints are achieve18 ments unparalleled in history, a direct product of the 

19 work and perseverance of the more than 400,000 in20 dividuals who contributed to the development of the 

21 Apollo missions on the shoulders of centuries of 

22 science and engineering pioneers from all corners of 

23 the world. 

24 (4) Among the thousands of individuals who 

25 have contributed to the achievements of the National 

26 Aeronautics and Space Administration (in this secVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:04 Jul 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1694.RS S1694

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1 tion referred to as ‘‘NASA’’) are African-American 

2 women such as Katherine Johnson, Dorothy 

3 Vaughn, Mary Jackson, and Dr. Christine Darden, 

4 who made critical contributions to NASA space pro5 grams. Katherine Johnson worked at NASA for 35 

6 years and calculated the trajectory of the Apollo 11 

7 landing and the trajectories for the spaceflights of 

8 astronauts Alan Shepard and John Glenn. Katherine 

9 Johnson, together with many other individuals the 

10 work of whom often went unacknowledged, helped 

11 broaden the scope of space travel and charted new 

12 frontiers for humanity’s exploration of space. 

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

14 made on behalf of all humankind, and Neil Arm15 strong and Buzz Aldrin were accompanied by mes16 sages of peace from the leaders of more than 70 

17 countries. 

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

19 spacecraft, the robotic spacecraft that preceded the 

20 Apollo 11 mission, and the crewed and robotic 

21 spacecraft that followed, are of outstanding uni22 versal value to humanity. 

23 (7) Such landing sites— 

24 (A) are the first archaeological sites with 

25 human activity that are not on Earth; 


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1 (B) provide evidence of the first achieve2 ments of humankind in the realm of space trav3 el and exploration; and 

4 (C) contain artifacts and other evidence of 

5 human exploration activities that remain a po6 tential source of cultural, historical, archae7 ological, anthropological, scientific, and engi8 neering knowledge. 

9 (8) As commercial enterprises and more coun10 tries acquire the ability to land on the Moon, it is 

11 necessary to ensure the recognition and protection of 

12 the Apollo 11 landing site and other historic landing 

13 sites together with all the human effort and innova14 tion the sites represent. 

15 (9) On July 20, 2011, NASA published the vol16 untary guidance entitled ‘‘NASA’s Recommendations 

17 to Space-Faring Entities: How to Protect and Pre18 serve the Historic and Scientific Value of U.S. Gov19 ernment Lunar Artifacts’’. 

20 (10) In March 2018, the Office of Science and 

21 Technology Policy published a report entitled ‘‘Pro22 tecting & Preserving Apollo Program Lunar Landing 

23 Sites & Artifacts’’. 

24 (11) The Apollo 11 landing site and other simi25 lar historic landing sites in outer space merit legal 


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1 protection from inadvertent or intentional inter2 ference with such sites or the environment sur3 rounding such sites in order to prevent irremediable 

4 loss of archaeological, anthropological, historical, sci5 entific, and engineering significance and value. 

6 (12) Space-faring entities based outside the 

7 United States have the capacity to land on the 

8 Moon. 

9 (13) The licensing requirements under this Act 

10 are applicable only to United States-based activities 

11 in outer space and therefore have limited efficacy for 

12 protecting against intentional or inadvertent disturb13 ances of the Apollo 11 landing site and other similar 

14 historic sites from space-faring entities based outside 

15 the United States. 

16 (14) A binding international agreement to pro17 tect the Apollo 11 landing site and other similar his18 toric sites by requiring adherence to the rec19 ommendations described in section 3(b) would be 

20 sufficient to protect against intentional or inad21 vertent disturbances of the Apollo 11 landing site 

22 and other similar historic sites. 

23 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con24 gress that the President should initiate a diplomatic initiaVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:04 Jul 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1694.RS S1694

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1 tive to negotiate an international agreement described in 

2 subsection (a)(14). 

3 SEC. 3. LICENSING REQUIREMENTS CONCERNING PRESER4 VATION OF HISTORIC LUNAR LANDING SITES. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning not later than 90 days 

6 after the date of the enactment of this Act, any Federal 

7 agency that issues a license to conduct an activity in outer 

8 space shall require each applicant for such a license— 

9 (1) to agree to abide by the recommendations 

10 described in subsection (b); or 

11 (2) in the case of an activity that requires a li12 cense from more than one Federal agency, to certify 

13 (as described in paragraph (1) or (2), as applicable, 

14 of section 1746 of title 28, United States Code) that 

15 the applicant has submitted an application for a li16 cense for such activity to another Federal agency 

17 that satisfies paragraph (1). 

18 (b) RECOMMENDATIONS DESCRIBED.—The rec19 ommendations described in this subsection are— 

20 (1) ‘‘NASA’s Recommendations to Space21 Faring Entities: How to Protect and Preserve the 

22 Historic and Scientific Value of U.S. Government 

23 Lunar Artifacts’’ issued by the National Aeronautics 

24 and Space Administration on July 20, 2011; 


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1 (2) the updates to ‘‘NASA’s Recommendations 

2 to Space-Faring Entities: How to Protect and Pre3 serve the Historic and Scientific Value of U.S. Gov4 ernment Lunar Artifacts’’ issued by the National 

5 Aeronautics and Space Administration on October 

6 28, 2011; and 

7 (3) any successor heritage preservation rec8 ommendations, guidelines, or principles relating to 

9 the protection and preservation of Government lunar 

10 artifacts issued by the National Aeronautics and 

11 Space Administration. 

12 (c) EXEMPTIONS.—A Federal agency issuing a li13 cense described in subsection (a) may, in consultation with 

14 the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space 

15 Administration, exempt specific activities of an applicant 

16 from the historic preservation agreement or certification 

17 under subsection (a) if such bona fide activities are deter18 mined to have legitimate and significant historical, archeo19 logical, anthropological, scientific, or engineering value. 

20 (d) AUTHORITY TO ASSESS PENALTY FEES.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—A Federal agency issuing a 

22 license described in subsection (a) may assess a pen23 alty fee on the holder of such license for conduct 

24 that violates one or more of terms of the license re25 lating to the agreement under subsection (a)(1). 


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1 (2) AMOUNT.—The penalty fee amount as2 sessed under paragraph (1) shall be— 

3 (A) commensurate with the nature and ex4 tent of the violation; and 

5 (B) sufficient to deter future violations. 

6 (e) ACTIVITY DEFINED.—In this section, the term 

7 ‘‘activity’’ means an action or endeavor in outer space 

8 that— 

9 (1) is intended to be lunar in nature, including 

10 lunar orbit, landing, and impact; or 

11 (2) has a greater likelihood than not of becom12 ing lunar in nature, including unintentional orbit 

13 and impact. 

14 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

15 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘One Small Step to Pro16 tect Human Heritage in Space Act’’. 

17 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

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

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

20 launched from the John F. Kennedy Space Center 

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

22 Aldrin, Jr., and Michael Collins. 

23 (2) July 20, 2019, will mark the 50th anniver24 sary of the date on which the Apollo 11 spacecraft 

25 landed on the Moon and Neil Armstrong and Buzz 


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1 Aldrin became the first humans to set foot on a celes2 tial body off the Earth. 

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

4 humanity’s first off-world footprints are achievements 

5 unparalleled in history, a direct product of the work 

6 and perseverance of the more than 400,000 individ7 uals who contributed to the development of the Apollo 

8 missions on the shoulders of centuries of science and 

9 engineering pioneers from all corners of the world. 

10 (4) Among the thousands of individuals who 

11 have contributed to the achievements of the National 

12 Aeronautics and Space Administration (in this sec13 tion referred to as ‘‘NASA’’) are African-American 

14 women such as Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughn, 

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

16 critical contributions to NASA space programs. Kath17 erine Johnson worked at NASA for 35 years and cal18 culated the trajectory of the Apollo 11 landing and 

19 the trajectories for the spaceflights of astronauts Alan 

20 Shepard and John Glenn. Katherine Johnson, to21 gether with many other individuals the work of whom 

22 often went unacknowledged, helped broaden the scope 

23 of space travel and charted new frontiers for human24 ity’s exploration of space. 


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

2 made on behalf of all humankind, and Neil Arm3 strong and Buzz Aldrin were accompanied by mes4 sages of peace from the leaders of more than 70 coun5 tries. 

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

7 spacecraft, the robotic spacecraft that preceded the 

8 Apollo 11 mission, and the crewed and robotic space9 craft that followed, are of outstanding universal value 

10 to humanity. 

11 (7) Such landing sites— 

12 (A) are the first archaeological sites with 

13 human activity that are not on Earth; 

14 (B) provide evidence of the first achieve15 ments of humankind in the realm of space travel 

16 and exploration; and 

17 (C) contain artifacts and other evidence of 

18 human exploration activities that remain a po19 tential source of cultural, historical, archae20 ological, anthropological, scientific, and engi21 neering knowledge. 

22 (8) On July 20, 2011, NASA published the vol23 untary guidance entitled ‘‘NASA’s Recommendations 

24 to Space-Faring Entities: How to Protect and PreVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:04 Jul 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1694.RS S1694

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1 serve the Historic and Scientific Value of U.S. Gov2 ernment Lunar Artifacts’’. 

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

4 Technology Policy published a report entitled ‘‘Pro5 tecting & Preserving Apollo Program Lunar Landing 

6 Sites & Artifacts’’. 

7 (10) Space-faring entities based outside the 

8 United States have the capacity to land on the Moon. 

9 (11) The licensing requirements under this Act 

10 are applicable only to United States-based lunar ac11 tivities and therefore have limited efficacy for pro12 tecting the Apollo 11 landing site, other similar his13 toric sites, and lunar artifacts from disturbances 

14 caused by space-faring entities based outside the 

15 United States. 

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

17 that— 

18 (1) as commercial enterprises and more countries 

19 acquire the ability to land on the Moon, it is nec20 essary to ensure the recognition and protection of the 

21 Apollo 11 landing site and other historic landing sites 

22 in acknowledgment of the human effort and innova23 tion the sites represent; 

24 (2) the Apollo 11 landing site, other similar his25 toric landing sites, lunar artifacts, and the environVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:04 Jul 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1694.RS S1694

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1 ment surrounding such sites and artifacts merit legal 

2 protection from disturbance to prevent irremediable 

3 loss of sites and artifacts that are of archeological, an4 thropological, historical, scientific, and engineering 

5 significance and value; and 

6 (3) the President should initiate a diplomatic 

7 initiative to negotiate an international agreement to 

8 protect the Apollo 11 landing site, other similar his9 toric sites, and lunar artifacts by requiring adherence 

10 to the recommendations described in section 3(b), 

11 which would be sufficient to protect against disturb12 ances of such sites and artifacts. 

13 SEC. 3. LICENSING REQUIREMENTS CONCERNING PRESER14 VATION OF HISTORIC LUNAR LANDING SITES. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

16 date of the enactment of this Act, any Federal agency that 

17 issues a license to conduct a lunar activity shall require 

18 each applicant for such a license— 

19 (1) to agree to abide by the recommendations de20 scribed in subsection (b); or 

21 (2) in the case of a lunar activity that requires 

22 a license from more than one Federal agency, to cer23 tify under penalty of perjury as provided in para24 graph (1) or (2), as applicable, of section 1746 of title 

25 28, United States Code, that the applicant has subVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:04 Jul 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1694.RS S1694

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1 mitted an application for a license for such activity 

2 to another Federal agency that satisfies paragraph 

3 (1). 

4 (b) RECOMMENDATIONS DESCRIBED.—The rec5 ommendations described in this subsection are— 

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

7 Entities: How to Protect and Preserve the Historic 

8 and Scientific Value of U.S. Government Lunar Arti9 facts’’ issued by the National Aeronautics and Space 

10 Administration on July 20, 2011, and updated on 

11 October 28, 2011; and 

12 (2) any successor heritage preservation rec13 ommendations, guidelines, or principles relating to 

14 the protection and preservation of Government lunar 

15 artifacts issued by the National Aeronautics and 

16 Space Administration. 

17 (c) EXEMPTIONS.—A Federal agency issuing a license 

18 described in subsection (a) may, in consultation with the 

19 Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Ad20 ministration, exempt specific lunar activities of an appli21 cant from the historic preservation agreement or certifi22 cation under subsection (a) if such bona fide activities are 

23 determined to have legitimate and significant historical, ar24 cheological, anthropological, scientific, or engineering value. 

25 (d) AUTHORITY TO ASSESS PENALTY FEES.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—A Federal agency issuing a li2 cense described in subsection (a) may assess a penalty 

3 fee on the holder of such license for conduct that vio4 lates one or more terms of the license relating to the 

5 agreement under subsection (a)(1). 

6 (2) AMOUNT.—The penalty fee amount assessed 

7 under paragraph (1) shall be— 

8 (A) commensurate with the nature and ex9 tent of the violation; and 

10 (B) sufficient to deter future violations. 

11 (e) LUNAR ACTIVITY DEFINED.—In this section, the 

12 term ‘‘lunar activity’’ means an action or endeavor in space 

13 that— 

14 (1) is intended to be lunar in nature, including 

15 lunar orbit, landing, and impact; or 

16 (2) has a greater likelihood than not of becoming 

17 lunar in nature, including unintentional orbit and 

18 impact. 

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill 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.’’. 


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Calendar No. 152 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1694 

A BILL 

To require any Federal agency that issues licenses 

Apollo 11 landing site, and for other purposes. relating to the preservation and protection of the the requirements for such licenses an agreement to conduct activities in outer space to include in 

JULY 16, 2019 

Reported with an amendment and an amendment to the 

title 


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