(2) assess NASA’s needs from and role in and 
contribution to the commercial lunar delivery mar-
ket; 
(3) based on such needs identified in paragraph 
(2), assess the effectiveness of the task order ap-
proach in advancing commercial development of 
lunar delivery services, including an assessment of 
the appropriate number of providers necessary to 
support NASA commercial lunar delivery needs, and 
identify any challenges and recommendations for im-
provement; and 
(4) strengthen procedures related to the selec-
tion, manifesting, interfaces, and requirements of 
payloads and other relevant factors that could con-
tribute to minimizing future NASA-directed changes 
to projects following commercial lunar payload serv-
ice contract awards. 
(e) MANAGEMENT PLAN.—Not later than 90 days 
from the date of the enactment of this Act, the Adminis-
trator shall, informed by the activities conducted under 
subsection (c), prepare and implement a management plan 
with clear leadership authority and responsibility for the 
program authorized in subsection (b). 
(f) BRIEFINGS.—Not later than 180 days from the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 
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brief the appropriate committees of Congress on the imple-
mentation of the management plan in subsection (d). 
(g) COORDINATION.—The Administrator shall ensure 
coordination between Mission Directorates and the Moon 
to Mars Program on the administration of the program 
in subsection (b) to ensure alignment of goals for lunar 
delivery services. 
SEC. 612. PLANETARY AND LUNAR OPERATIONS. 
(a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that— 
(1) existing NASA lunar and Martian orbital 
missions are operating well beyond their planned 
mission lifespans; 
(2) NASA relies on this aging infrastructure for 
observations, communications relay, and other oper-
ations to support critical NASA missions; and 
(3) the United States plans to increase its ac-
tivities on and around both the Moon and Mars in 
coming years. 
(b) PLAN.—The Administrator shall develop a plan 
to ensure continuity of operations and sufficient observa-
tional and operational capabilities on and around the 
Moon and Mars necessary to continue to enable a robust 
science program and human exploration program for the 
Moon and Mars well into the future. Such plan shall con-
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sider opportunities to engage both private and inter-
national partners in future operations. 
SEC. 613. MARS SAMPLE RETURN. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall, subject 
to the availability of appropriations, lead a Mars Sample 
Return program to enable the return to Earth of scientif-
ically-selected samples from the surface of Mars for study 
in terrestrial laboratories, consistent with the rec-
ommendations of the National Academies decadal surveys 
for planetary science. 
(b) APPROACH.—The Administrator shall pursue the 
program in subsection (a) on a timeline and in a manner 
necessary to— 
(1) Sustain United States leadership in the sci-
entific exploration of Mars; 
(2) maintain NASA capabilities to land and op-
erate robotic spacecraft on the surface of Mars; 
(3) preserve the relevant unique and long-term 
institutional expertise; and 
(4) maintain a balanced and robust planetary 
science division portfolio without requiring signifi-
cant increases to the NASA budget. 
(c) IMPLEMENTATION
PLAN.—The Administrator 
shall, as soon as practicable and no later than 180 days 
after the date of enactment of this Act, transmit to the 
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appropriate committees of Congress a plan and timeline 
for the implementation of a Mars Sample Return program 
pursuant to this section with the goal of enabling the high-
est scientific return for the resources invested. Such plan 
shall include a design and mission architecture and estab-
lish realistic cost and schedule estimates to enable such 
goal. 
SEC. 614. HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE SERVICING. 
Not later than 90 days from the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit to the 
appropriate committees of Congress full copies of any 
study conducted in the last five years regarding the tech-
nical feasibility of safely reboosting the Hubble Space Tel-
escope, including any such studies regarding the technical 
feasibility of using private sector capabilities. 
SEC. 615. GREAT OBSERVATORIES MISSION AND TECH-
NOLOGY MATURATION. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator may es-
tablish a Great Observatories Mission and Technology 
Maturation program (referred to in this section as the 
‘‘Program’’) to mature the large-scale space-based mission 
concepts and technologies needed for future large strategic 
astrophysics missions, including for a large-aperture infra-
red, optical, and ultraviolet space telescope, as informed 
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by the recommendations of the most recent decadal survey 
in astronomy and astrophysics. 
(b) ACTIVITIES.—The Program shall inform the de-
sign and development of future large-scale space-based As-
trophysics missions by conducting activities which may in-
clude— 
(1) assessing the appropriate scope for any fu-
ture mission; 
(2) determining the range of capabilities and 
technology readiness of such capabilities needed for 
a mission; and 
(3) informing the development and maturation 
of science and technologies needed for such mission. 
(c) COSTS.—The independent life-cycle cost estimate 
conducted under section 30307 of title 51, United States 
Code, as amended by this Act, for any large-scale space- 
based mission derived from concepts and technologies ma-
tured through the Program shall include an accounting 
of all costs spent on maturation of the mission through 
the Program. 
(d) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 
of the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, the 
Administrator shall submit to the appropriate committees 
of Congress a report on the progress and impacts of any 
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(B) improving the resilience of the Na-
tion’s energy infrastructure; and 
(C) protecting human health in space; and 
(3) the Heliophysics Division should continue to 
maximize the scientific return on investment of its 
portfolio through maintaining a balanced portfolio 
that includes research and analysis, including multi-
disciplinary research initiatives, technology develop-
ment, space-based missions and suborbital flight 
projects that include both directed and strategic mis-
sions and principal investigator-led, competitively so-
licited missions, informed by the science priorities 
and guidance of the most recent decadal survey in 
solar and space physics. 
(b) PROGRAM MANAGEMENT.—The Administrator 
shall seek to— 
(1) maintain a regular Explorer Announcement 
of Opportunity cadence and alternate between small 
and mid-sized missions; and 
(2) enable a regular selection of Missions of Op-
portunity. 
SEC. 618. STUDY ON COMMERCIAL SPACE WEATHER DATA. 
(a) STUDY.—The Administrator, in consultation with 
the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmos-
pheric Administration, shall conduct a study of the extent 
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to which commercially-available data could advance space 
weather research, including the relevant space weather re-
search priorities of the most recent decadal survey on solar 
and space physics. 
(b) CONTENTS.—The study shall include— 
(1) an assessment of commercial capabilities 
and commercial data that meets or exceeds the 
science and technical standards and requirements of 
the Administration, which may include— 
(A) data that is or could be generated by 
commercial providers; 
(B) commercially-available small space-
craft; 
(C) opportunities for hosted NASA pay-
loads on commercial spacecraft; and 
(D) commercial solutions for data proc-
essing applicable to space weather science; 
(2) recommendations and opportunities for the 
Federal Government to facilitate the use of commer-
cially available options for space weather data rel-
evant to advancing the Administration’s space 
weather research and development activities con-
sistent with the most recent National Academies 
decadal survey, without reducing quality of data; 
and 
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(3) options, where appropriate, for potential 
partnerships or use of NASA prize authority and 
competitions, as appropriate and practicable, to ob-
tain access to such data identified in paragraph (1) 
that— 
(A) meets or exceeds the science and tech-
nical standards and requirements of the Admin-
istration; and 
(B) are not duplicative of activities con-
ducted pursuant to chapter 606 of title 51, 
United States Code. 
(c) REPORT.—Not later than 270 days after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit 
a report to the appropriate committees of Congress con-
taining the results of the study provided under subsection 
(a). 
SEC. 619. GEOSPACE DYNAMICS CONSTELLATION. 
(a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that the Geospace Dynamics Constellation mission 
could enable scientific discoveries that will transform un-
derstanding of the processes that govern the dynamics of 
the Earth’s upper atmospheric envelope that surrounds 
and protects the planet. 
(b) ASSESSMENT.—Not later than 30 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 
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submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report 
regarding the updated mission approach, schedule, and 
budget profile to launch the Geospace Dynamics Con-
stellation mission by the end of the decade to fulfill the 
recommendations of the heliophysics decadal survey. 
SEC. 620. TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT FOR WILDLAND 
FIRE SCIENCE, MANAGEMENT, AND MITIGA-
TION. 
(a) 
IN
GENERAL.—The 
Administrator, 
acting 
through the Associate Director of the Earth Science Divi-
sion for Earth Action, shall establish a project for science 
and technology development for wildland fire management 
and 
mitigation 
(referred 
to 
in 
this 
section 
as 
‘‘FireSense’’). 
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of FireSense is to co- 
develop, deploy, and support NASA’s application of ad-
vanced science, data, and technology capabilities to enable 
measurable improvement in United States wildland fire 
management and mitigation across the fire cycle, includ-
ing pre-fire, active fire, and post-fire phases. 
(c) OBJECTIVES.—In establishing FireSense, the Ad-
ministrator shall seek input from relevant stakeholders 
and shall align FireSense with the goal for NASA’s Earth 
science and applications program set forth in section 
60501 of title 51, United States Code, consider relevant 
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recommendations of the most recent decadal survey on 
Earth science and applications from space, and shall, to 
the extent practicable, focus on the following objectives: 
(1) Enhanced predictive modeling and early 
warning systems for wildland fire detection and pre-
vention. 
(2) Developing remote sensing technologies and 
data analysis tools to monitor fire-prone areas. 
(3) Transitioning wildland fire management 
technologies to operational users, including agencies, 
private sector entities, and academic institutions. 
(4) Conducting studies on the long-term impact 
of temperature change, weather variability, environ-
mental stressors, and atmospheric, hydrologic, eco-
logical, and other changes to Earth systems on 
wildland fire behavior, frequency, and intensity. 
(5) Supporting post-fire recovery and ecosystem 
restoration through advanced technologies and data. 
(6) Providing necessary technical assistance to 
operational users to receive, process, and make use 
of wildland fire science, data, and technology re-
sources. 
(7) Any additional objectives as determined nec-
essary by the Administrator to satisfy the purpose 
described in subsection (b). 
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