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. 
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(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 
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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 
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(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.