provements relative to rotorcraft existing as of the date 
of the enactment of this Act: 
(1) 60 percent reduction in noise levels on take-
off and on approach and landing as perceived by a 
human observer. 
(2) Factor of ten reduction in maximum vibra-
tion. 
(3) 30 percent reduction in empty weight. 
(4) 90 percent reduction in rotorcraft accident 
rate compared to 2002. 
(5) Capability for full all-weather operations, 
including zero-ceiling, zero-visibility operations and 
routine flight in icing conditions. 
(6) Double the density altitude envelope, rel-
ative to 2002 capabilities, for rotorcraft operations. 
(b) IMPLEMENTATION.—Within 180 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the NASA Adminis-
trator shall provide a plan to the Committee on Science 
of the House of Representatives and to the Committee on 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate for 
the implementation of the initiative described in sub-
section (a). The implementation plan shall include—
(1) technological roadmaps for achieving each 
of the improvements specified in subsection (a);
(2) an estimate of the ten-year funding profile 
required to achieve the objective specified in sub-
section (a); 
(3) a plan for carrying out a formal quantifica-
tion of the estimated costs and benefits of each tech-
nological option selected for development beyond the 
initial concept definition phase; and 
(4) a plan for transferring the technologies to 
industry, including the identification of requirements 
for prototype demonstrations, as appropriate. 
(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Except 
as provided in section 109(b), there are authorized to be 
appropriated to the NASA Administrator to carry out this 
section—
(1) $40,000,000 for fiscal year 2004; 
(2) $40,000,000 for fiscal year 2005; 
(3) $40,000,000 for fiscal year 2006; 
(4) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2007; and 
(5) $70,000,000 for fiscal year 2008.
SEC. 104. CIVIL SUPERSONIC TRANSPORT RESEARCH AND 
DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE. 
(a) OBJECTIVE.—The NASA Administrator shall es-
tablish an initiative with the objective of developing, and 
demonstrating in a relevant environment, within twenty 
years after the date of the enactment of this Act, tech-
nologies to enable overland flight of supersonic civil trans-
port aircraft with at least the following performance char-
acteristics: 
(1) Mach number of at least 1.6. 
(2) Range of at least 4,000 nautical miles. 
(3) Payload of at least 150 passengers. 
(4) Noise levels on takeoff and on airport ap-
proach and landing that meet community noise 
standards in place at airports from which such com-
mercial supersonic aircraft would normally operate 
at the time the aircraft would enter commercial serv-
ice. 
(5) Shaped signature sonic boom overpressure 
sufficiently low enough to permit overland flight over 
populated areas. 
(6) Nitrogen oxide emissions of less than 15 
grams per kilogram of fuel burned. 
(7) Water vapor emissions for stratospheric 
flight of no greater than 1400 grams per kilogram 
of fuel burned. 
(b) IMPLEMENTATION.—Within 180 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the NASA Adminis-
trator shall provide to the Committee on Science of the 
House of Representatives and to the Committee on Com-
merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a plan
for the implementation of the initiative described in sub-
section (a). Such implementation plan shall include—
(1) technological roadmaps for achieving each 
of the performance characteristics specified in sub-
section (a); 
(2) an estimate of the ten-year funding profile 
required to achieve the objective specified in sub-
section (a); 
(3) a plan for carrying out a formal quantifica-
tion of the estimated costs and benefits of each tech-
nological option selected for development beyond the 
initial concept definition phase; 
(4) a plan for transferring the technologies to 
industry, including the identification of requirements 
for prototype demonstrations, as appropriate; 
(5) a plan for research to quantify, within 3 
years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
limits on sonic boom parameters, such as over-
pressure and rise time, that would be acceptable to 
the general public; and 
(6) a plan for adjusting the noise reduction re-
search and development activities as needed to ac-
commodate changes in community noise standards 
that may occur over the lifetime of the initiative.
(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Except 
as provided in section 109(b), there are authorized to be 
appropriated to the NASA Administrator to carry out this 
section—
(1) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2004; 
(2) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2005; 
(3) $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2006; 
(4) $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2007; and 
(5) $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2008. 
SEC. 105. UNIVERSITY-BASED CENTERS FOR RESEARCH ON 
AVIATION TRAINING. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The NASA Administrator shall 
award grants to institutions of higher education (or con-
sortia thereof) to establish one or more Centers for Re-
search on Aviation Training. 
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Centers shall be 
to investigate the impact of new technologies and proce-
dures, particularly those related to the aircraft flight deck 
and to the air traffic management functions, on training 
requirements for pilots and air traffic controllers. 
(c) APPLICATION.—An institution of higher edu-
cation (or a consortium of such institutions) seeking fund-
ing under this section shall submit an application to the 
NASA Administrator at such time, in such manner, and 
containing such information as the NASA Administrator
may require, including, at a minimum, a five-year research 
plan. 
(d) AWARD DURATION.—An award made by the 
NASA Administrator under this section shall be for a pe-
riod of five years and may be renewed on the basis of—
(1) satisfactory performance in meeting the 
goals of the research plan proposed by the Center in 
its application under subsection (c); and 
(2) other requirements as specified by the Ad-
ministrator. 
(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Except 
as provided in section 109(b), there are authorized to be 
appropriated to the NASA Administrator to carry out this 
section—
(1) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2004; 
(2) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2005; 
(3) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2006; 
(4) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2007; and 
(5) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2008. 
SEC. 106. NASA AERONAUTICS SCHOLARSHIPS. 
(a) OBJECTIVE.—The NASA Administrator shall es-
tablish a program of scholarships for full-time graduate 
students who are United States citizens and are enrolled
in, or have been accepted by and have indicated their in-
tention to enroll in, accredited Masters degree programs
in aeronautical engineering at institutions of higher edu-
cation. Each such scholarship shall cover the costs of 
room, board, tuition, and fees, and may be provided for 
a maximum of two years. 
(b) IMPLEMENTATION.—Within 180 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the NASA Adminis-
trator shall publish regulations governing the scholarship 
program. 
(c) COOPERATIVE TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES.—Stu-
dents who have been awarded a scholarship under this sec-
tion shall have the opportunity for paid employment at 
one of the NASA Centers engaged in aeronautics research 
and development during the summer prior to the first year 
of the student’s Masters program, and between the first 
and second year, if applicable. 
(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Except 
as provided in section 109(b), there are authorized to be 
appropriated to the NASA Administrator to carry out this 
section—
(1) $500,000 for fiscal year 2004;
(2) $750,000 for fiscal year 2005; 
(3) $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2006; 
(4) $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2007; and 
(5) $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2008.
SEC. 107. AVIATION WEATHER RESEARCH. 
There are authorized to be appropriated to the NASA 
Administrator $10,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 
2004 through 2008 for collaborative research with the Na-
tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on convec-
tive weather events, with the goal of improving the reli-
ability of two to six hour aviation weather forecasts to a 
level of at least 0.75. 
SEC. 108. AIR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT SYSTEM RESEARCH. 
There are authorized to be appropriated to the NASA 
Administrator $40,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 
2004 through 2008 to carry out collaborative research 
with the FAA and with other Federal agencies as appro-
priate in accordance with the research plan developed 
under section 301(b). 
SEC. 109. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
(a) TOTAL AUTHORIZATION.—The total amounts au-
thorized to be appropriated for aeronautics research, de-
velopment, and demonstration activities at NASA, includ-
ing the amounts authorized by this Act, are—
(1) $675,000,000 for fiscal year 2004; 
(2) $750,000,000 for fiscal year 2005; 
(3) $900,000,000 for fiscal year 2006; 
(4) $1,050,000,000 for fiscal year 2007; and 
(5) $1,150,000,000 for fiscal year 2008.
(b) LIMITATION.—All amounts authorized to be ap-
propriated by this title are for research and development 
activities and do not include amounts required to support 
the labor, travel, research operations support, environ-
mental compliance, and nonprogrammatic construction of 
facilities activities of the Office of Aeronautics. 
TITLE 
II—FEDERAL 
AVIATION 
ADMINISTRATION RESEARCH 
AND DEVELOPMENT 
SEC. 201. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
(a) AMOUNTS AUTHORIZED.—Section 48102(a) of 
title 49, United States Code, is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 
(7); 
(2) by striking the period at the end of para-
graph (8) and inserting a semicolon; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(9) for fiscal year 2004, $366,100,000, includ-
ing—
‘‘(A) $25,500,000 for weather projects and 
activities; 
‘‘(B) $81,600,000 for aircraft safety tech-
nology projects and activities; 
‘‘(C) $27,300,000 for human factors and 
aviation medicine projects and activities;
‘‘(D) $30,000,000 for environment and en-
ergy projects and activities; and 
‘‘(E) $35,000,000 to carry out collabo-
rative research with the National Aeronautics 
and Space Administration and with other Fed-
eral agencies as appropriate in accordance with 
the research plan developed under section 
301(b) of the Aeronautics Research and Devel-
opment Revitalization Act of 2003; 
‘‘(10) for fiscal year 2005, $410,000,000, in-
cluding—
‘‘(A) $30,600,000 for weather projects and 
activities; 
‘‘(B) $90,100,000 for aircraft safety tech-
nology projects and activities; 
‘‘(C) $30,200,000 for human factors and 
aviation medicine projects and activities; 
‘‘(D) $37,500,000 for environment and en-
ergy projects and activities; and 
‘‘(E) $35,000,000 to carry out collabo-
rative research with the National Aeronautics 
and Space Administration and with other Fed-
eral agencies as appropriate in accordance with
the research plan developed under section
301(b) of the Aeronautics Research and Devel-
opment Revitalization Act of 2003; 
‘‘(11) for fiscal year 2006, $462,000,000, in-
cluding—
‘‘(A) $37,000,000 for weather projects and 
activities; 
‘‘(B) $99,800,000 for aircraft safety tech-
nology projects and activities; 
‘‘(C) $33,500,000 for human factors and 
aviation medicine projects and activities; 
‘‘(D) $47,000,000 for environment and en-
ergy projects and activities; and 
‘‘(E) $35,000,000 to carry out collabo-
rative research with the National Aeronautics 
and Space Administration and with other Fed-
eral agencies as appropriate in accordance with 
the research plan developed under section 
301(b) of the Aeronautics Research and Devel-
opment Revitalization Act of 2003; 
‘‘(12) for fiscal year 2007, $520,000,000, in-
cluding $35,000,000 to carry out collaborative re-
search with the National Aeronautics and Space Ad-
ministration and with other Federal agencies as ap-
propriate in accordance with the research plan devel-
oped under section 301(b) of the Aeronautics Re-