IB 
Union Calendar No. 333 
111TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5781 
[Report No. 111–576] 
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 
JULY 28, 2010 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on July 20, 2010] 
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Na-
tional Aeronautics and Space Administration Authoriza-
tion Act of 2010’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Findings. 
Sec. 3. Definitions. 
TITLE I—AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS 
Sec. 101. Fiscal year 2011. 
Sec. 102. Fiscal year 2012. 
Sec. 103. Fiscal year 2013. 
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 tech-
nology research. 
Subtitle C—Space Shuttle 
Sec. 221. Contingent authorization of additional space shuttle mission. 
Sec. 222. Expanded scope of Space Shuttle Transition Liaison Office. 
Sec. 223. Post-Shuttle workforce transition initiative grant program. 
Sec. 224. Disposition of orbiter vehicles. 
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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. 
Subtitle F—General Provisions 
Sec. 251. Use of program funds. 
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. 
Sec. 304. Report on temperature records. 
Subtitle B—Space Science 
Sec. 311. Suborbital programs. 
Sec. 312. Review of Explorer program. 
Sec. 313. Radioisotope thermoelectric generator material requirements and sup-
ply. 
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. 
Sec. 604. Hands-on space science and engineering education and training. 
TITLE VII—INSTITUTIONAL CAPABILITIES REVITALIZATION 
Sec. 701. Institutional management. 
Sec. 702. James E. Webb Cooperative Education Distinguished Scholar Program. 
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TITLE VIII—ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT 
Sec. 801. Prohibition on expenditure of funds when 30 percent threshold is exceed-
ed. 
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, develop-
ment, and education. 
Sec. 907. Study on export control matters related to United States astronaut safe-
ty and NASA mission operations. 
Sec. 908. Amendment to the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958. 
Sec. 909. Near-Earth objects. 
Sec. 910. Sense of Congress. 
Sec. 911. Ethics programs in the Office of General Counsel. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) NASA is and should remain a multimission 
agency with a balanced and robust set of core mis-
sions in science, aeronautics, and human space flight 
and exploration. 
(2) NASA’s programs have the potential to in-
spire our youth to pursue studies and careers in 
science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, 
and the agency should carry out its activities in a 
manner that enhances the educational and outreach 
potential of its programs. 
(3) NASA should begin to reinvest in sustained 
fashion in a long-term space technology research and 
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development activity. Such investments are an impor-
tant catalyst for innovation, and they represent the 
critically important ‘‘seed corn’’ on which NASA’s 
ability to carry out challenging and productive mis-
sions in the future will depend. 
(4) The Space Shuttle workforce, both civil serv-
ants and contractors, encompasses skills and experi-
ence that will be needed in the Nation’s future human 
space flight activities, and the transition of that 
workforce to a challenging human space flight and ex-
ploration program needs to be carried out in as expe-
ditious and nondisruptive a manner as possible. 
(5) Human and robotic exploration of the solar 
system will be a significant undertaking of humanity 
in the 21st century and beyond, and it is in the na-
tional interest that the United States should assume 
a leadership role in a cooperative international explo-
ration initiative. Continuity of exploration goals is 
critical if progress is to be maximized and costly inef-
ficiencies are to be minimized. 
(6) Commercial activities have long contributed 
to the vitality and strength of the Nation’s space and 
aeronautics programs, and the growth of a healthy, 
self-sustaining United States commercial space and 
aeronautics sector should continue to be encouraged. 
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(7) Congress agrees with the finding of the Re-
view of United States Human Spaceflight Plans Com-
mittee that: ‘‘While there are many potential benefits 
of commercial services that transport crew to low- 
Earth orbit, there are simply too many risks at the 
present time not to have a viable fallback option for 
risk mitigation.’’. 
(8) It is in the national interest for the United 
States Government to develop a government system to 
serve as an independent means—whether primary or 
backup—of crewed access to low-Earth orbit and be-
yond so that it is not dependent on either non-United 
States or commercial systems for its crewed access to 
space. 
(9) Development of the next crewed space trans-
portation system to low-Earth orbit should be guided 
by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board’s rec-
ommendation that ‘‘the design of the system should 
give overriding priority to crew safety, rather than 
trade safety against other performance criteria, such 
as low cost and reusability’’. 
(10) In an environment of constrained budgets, 
responsible stewardship of taxpayer-provided re-
sources makes it imperative that NASA’s exploration 
program be carried out in a manner that builds on 
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the investments made to date in the Orion, Ares I, 
and heavy lift projects and other activities of the ex-
ploration program in existence prior to fiscal year 
2011 rather than discarding them. A restructured ex-
ploration program should pursue the incremental de-
velopment and demonstration of crewed and heavy-lift 
transportation systems in a manner that ensures that 
investments to provide assured access to low-Earth 
orbit also directly support the expeditious develop-
ment of the heavy lift launch vehicle system, minimize 
the looming human space flight ‘‘gap’’, provide a very 
high level of crew safety, and enable challenging mis-
sions beyond low-Earth orbit in a timely manner. 
(11) 
NASA’s 
programs 
in 
astrophysics, 
heliophysics, planetary science, and Earth science and 
climate research have greatly increased our under-
standing of both our home planet and the rest of the 
universe, and they have also provided numerous bene-
fits to our society. 
(12) NASA’s aeronautics program is under-
taking research and development that benefits our eco-
nomic development and competitiveness, enhances our 
quality of life and enables environmentally respon-
sible aviation operations, and strengthens our na-
tional defense. 
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(13) The ISS provides a unique research envi-
ronment and capabilities for basic and applied re-
search, as well as having the potential to serve as a 
testbed for human space flight technologies and oper-
ational concepts. It is critically important that NASA 
make needed investments to promote productive ISS 
utilization, including a meaningful program of 
grants in the life and physical sciences microgravity 
research disciplines. 
(14) It is in the national interest for the United 
States to have an export control policy that protects 
the national security while also enabling the United 
States aerospace industry to compete effectively in the 
global marketplace and the United States to under-
take cooperative programs in science and human 
space flight in an effective manner. 
(15) A strong, robust NASA program is in the 
national interest. Ensuring that it can continue to 
pursue cutting-edge space and aeronautical research 
and development activities and push back the frontier 
of space exploration requires a sustained and ade-
quate commitment in resources. However, NASA’s 
share of the Federal discretionary budgetary author-
ity has declined significantly relative to its post-Apol-
lo historical average share of 2.07 percent. It should 
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be a national goal to restore NASA’s funding share to 
its post-Apollo historical average. 
(16) NASA should be vigilant in taking all nec-
essary steps to control cost and schedule growth in 
mission projects, including the development of an in-
tegrated cost containment strategy, and adopt meas-
ures that improve the performance and transparency 
of its cost and acquisition management practices. 
NASA should approach cost and schedule manage-
ment with the same level of innovation, rigor, and 
technical excellence that it applies to the execution of 
its mission projects. 
(17) NASA has been inconsistent in its treat-
ment of termination liability costs for contracts 
issued by different mission directorates and across 
various agency programs relative to historical prac-
tice. This inconsistency has hampered NASA’s ability 
to effectively execute its Exploration programs. 
(18) NASA’s temperature records substantially 
overlap with the records of the Climatic Research 
Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) 
ADMINISTRATOR.—The 
term 
‘‘Adminis-
trator’’ means the Administrator of NASA. 
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(2) ISS.—The term ‘‘ISS’’ means the Inter-
national Space Station. 
(3) NASA.—The term ‘‘NASA’’ means the Na-
tional Aeronautics and Space Administration. 
(4) NOAA.—The term ‘‘NOAA’’ means the Na-
tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 
(5) OSTP.—The term ‘‘OSTP’’ means the Office 
of Science and Technology Policy. 
TITLE I—AUTHORIZATION OF 
APPROPRIATIONS 
SEC. 101. FISCAL YEAR 2011. 
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Admin-
istrator for fiscal year 2011 $19,000,000,000, to be allocated 
as follows: 
(1) For Science, $5,015,700,000, of which— 
(A) $1,801,800,000 shall be for Earth 
Science; 
(B) $1,485,700,000 shall be for Planetary 
Science; 
(C) $1,076,300,000 shall be for Astro-
physics; 
(D) $646,900,000 shall be for Heliophysics, 
of which $5,000,000 shall be an augmentation to 
the Explorers program; and 
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(E) $5,000,000 shall be an augmentation to 
the total amount provided under subparagraphs 
(C) and (D) for Astrophysics and Heliophysics 
in order to augment the funding for the Science 
Mission Directorate’s suborbital research pro-
grams, to be allocated between the Astrophysics 
and Heliophysics suborbital programs at the Ad-
ministrator’s discretion. 
(2) For Aeronautics, $579,600,000. 
(3) For Space Technology, $572,200,000. 
(4) For Exploration, $4,535,300,000 of which— 
(A) $215,000,000 shall be for Human Re-
search; 
(B) $14,000,000 shall be for the Commercial 
Orbital Transportation System demonstration 
program; 
(C) $50,000,000 shall be for commercial 
crew transportation-related activities; 
(D) $4,156,300,000 shall be for the restruc-
tured exploration program described in section 
202; and 
(E) $100,000,000 shall be for the loan and 
loan guarantee program described in section 243. 
(5) For Space Operations, $4,594,300,000, of 
which— 
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