line flight manifest and the flight of the additional flight 
specified in subsection (b), events that are anticipated to 
occur in 2010. 
SEC. 612. DISPOSITION OF SHUTTLE-RELATED ASSETS. 
Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Administrator shall provide a plan to Congress 
for the disposition of the remaining Space Shuttle orbiters 
and other Space Shuttle program-related hardware and fa-
cilities after the retirement of the Space Shuttle fleet. The 
plan shall include a process by which educational institu-
tions and science museums and other appropriate organiza-
tions may acquire, through loan or disposal by the Federal 
Government, Space Shuttle program-related hardware. The 
Administrator shall not dispose of any Space Shuttle-re-
lated hardware prior to the completion of the plan. 
SEC. 613. SPACE SHUTTLE TRANSITION LIAISON OFFICE. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator shall estab-
lish an office within NASA’s Office of Human Capital 
Management that shall assist local communities affected by 
the termination of the Space Shuttle program. The office 
shall offer technical assistance and serve as a clearinghouse 
to assist communities in identifying services available from 
other Federal agencies. 
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(b) SUNSET.—The Office established under subsection 
(a) shall cease operations 24 months after the last Space 
Shuttle flight. 
Subtitle C—Launch Services 
SEC. 621. LAUNCH SERVICES STRATEGY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—In preparation for the award of 
contracts to follow up on the current NASA Launch Serv-
ices (NLS) contracts, the Administrator shall develop a 
strategy for providing domestic commercial launch services 
in support of NASA’s small and medium-sized Science, 
Space Operations, and Exploration missions, consistent 
with current law and policy. 
(b) REPORT.—The Administrator shall transmit a re-
port to the Committee on Science and Technology of the 
House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 
Science, and Transportation of the Senate describing the 
strategy developed under subsection (a) not later than 90 
days after the date of enactment of this Act. The report shall 
provide, at a minimum— 
(1) the results of the Request for Information on 
small to medium-sized launch services released on 
April 22, 2008; 
(2) an analysis of possible alternatives to main-
tain small and medium-sized lift capabilities after 
June 30, 2010, including the use of the Department 
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of Defense’s Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle 
(EELV); 
(3) the recommended alternatives, and associated 
5-year budget plans starting in October 2010 that 
would enable their implementation; and 
(4) a contingency plan in the event the rec-
ommended alternatives described in paragraph (3) 
are not available when needed. 
TITLE VII—EDUCATION 
SEC. 701. RESPONSE TO REVIEW. 
(a) PLAN.—The Administrator shall prepare a plan 
identifying actions taken or planned in response to the rec-
ommendations of the National Academies report, ‘‘NASA’s 
Elementary and Secondary Education Program: Review 
and Critique’’. For those actions that have not been imple-
mented, the plan shall include a schedule and budget re-
quired to support the actions. 
(b) REPORT.—The plan prepared under subsection (a) 
shall be transmitted to the Committee on Science and Tech-
nology of the House of Representatives and the Committee 
on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate 
not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 
Act. 
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SEC. 702. EXTERNAL REVIEW OF EXPLORER SCHOOLS PRO-
GRAM. 
(a) REVIEW.—The Administrator shall make arrange-
ments for an independent external review of the Explorer 
Schools program to evaluate its goals, status, plans, and 
accomplishments. 
(b) REPORT.—The report of the independent external 
review shall be transmitted to the Committee on Science 
and Technology of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 
the Senate not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 
of this Act. 
TITLE VIII—NEAR-EARTH 
OBJECTS 
SEC. 801. IN GENERAL. 
The Congress reaffirms the policy direction established 
in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Au-
thorization Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–155) for NASA 
to detect, track, catalogue, and characterize the physical 
characteristics of near-Earth objects equal to or greater than 
140 meters in diameter. NASA’s Near-Earth Object pro-
gram activities will also provide benefits to NASA’s sci-
entific and exploration activities. 
SEC. 802. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
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(1) Near-Earth objects pose a serious and cred-
ible threat to humankind, as many scientists believe 
that a major asteroid or comet was responsible for the 
mass extinction of the majority of the Earth’s species, 
including the dinosaurs, nearly 65,000,000 years ago. 
(2) Several such near-Earth objects have only 
been discovered within days of the objects’ closest ap-
proach to Earth and recent discoveries of such large 
objects indicate that many large near-Earth objects 
remain undiscovered. 
(3) Asteroid and comet collisions rank as one of 
the most costly natural disasters that can occur. 
(4) The time needed to eliminate or mitigate the 
threat of a collision of a potentially hazardous near- 
Earth object with Earth is measured in decades. 
(5) Unlike earthquakes and hurricanes, asteroids 
and comets can provide adequate collision informa-
tion, enabling the United States to include both aster-
oid-collision and comet-collision disaster recovery and 
disaster avoidance in its public-safety structure. 
(6) Basic information is needed for technical 
and policy decisionmaking for the United States to 
create a comprehensive program in order to be ready 
to eliminate and mitigate the serious and credible 
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