Union Calendar No. 18 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1023 
[Report No. 109–37] 
To authorize the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Admin-
istration to establish an awards program in honor of Charles ‘‘Pete’’ 
Conrad, astronaut and space scientist, for recognizing the discoveries 
made by amateur astronomers of asteroids with near-Earth orbit trajec-
tories. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 1, 2005 
Mr. ROHRABACHER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Science 
APRIL 12, 2005 
Additional sponsor: Mr. EHLERS 
APRIL 12, 2005 
Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union 
and ordered to be printed 
A BILL 
To authorize the Administrator of the National Aeronautics 
and Space Administration to establish an awards pro-
gram in honor of Charles ‘‘Pete’’ Conrad, astronaut and 
space scientist, for recognizing the discoveries made by 
amateur astronomers of asteroids with near-Earth orbit 
trajectories.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Charles ‘Pete’ Conrad 
Astronomy Awards Act’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
For the purposes of this Act— 
(1) the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad-
ministrator of the National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration; 
(2) the term ‘‘amateur astronomer’’ means an 
individual whose employer does not provide any 
funding, payment, or compensation to the individual 
for the observation of asteroids and other celestial 
bodies, and does not include any individual employed 
as a professional astronomer; 
(3) the term ‘‘Minor Planet Center’’ means the 
Minor Planet Center of the Smithsonian Astro-
physical Observatory; 
(4) the term ‘‘near-Earth asteroid’’ means an 
asteroid with a perihelion distance of less than 1.3 
Astronomical Units from the Sun; and 
(5) the term ‘‘Program’’ means the Charles 
‘‘Pete’’ Conrad Astronomy Awards Program estab-
lished under section 3.
SEC. 3. PETE CONRAD ASTRONOMY AWARD PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall establish 
the Charles ‘‘Pete’’ Conrad Astronomy Awards Program. 
(b) AWARDS.—The Administrator shall make awards 
under the Program based on the recommendations of the 
Minor Planet Center. 
(c) AWARD CATEGORIES.—The Administrator shall 
make one annual award, unless there are no eligible dis-
coveries or contributions, for each of the following cat-
egories: 
(1) The amateur astronomer or group of ama-
teur astronomers who in the preceding calendar year 
discovered the intrinsically brightest near-Earth as-
teroid among the near-Earth asteroids that were dis-
covered during that year by amateur astronomers or 
groups of amateur astronomers. 
(2) The amateur astronomer or group of ama-
teur astronomers who made the greatest contribu-
tion to the Minor Planet Center’s mission of cata-
loguing near-Earth asteroids during the preceding 
year. 
(d) AWARD AMOUNT.—An award under the Program 
shall be in the amount of $3,000. 
(e) GUIDELINES.—(1) No individual who is not a cit-
izen or permanent resident of the United States at the
time of his discovery or contribution may receive an award 
under this Act. 
(2) The decisions of the Administrator in making 
awards under this Act are final. 
(f) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—From 
sums otherwise authorized to be appropriated, there are 
authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be nec-
essary to carry out this Act.