51 U.S.C. § 70501 — Space shuttle follow-on

Page 171 TITLE 51—NATIONAL AND COMMERCIAL SPACE PROGRAMS § 70501 Sec. 70503. Ground-based analog capabilities. 70504. Stepping stone approach to exploration. 70505. Lunar outpost. 70506. Exploration technology research. 70507. Technology development. 70508. Robotic or human servicing of spacecraft. § 70501. Space shuttle follow-on (a) POLICY STATEMENT.—In order to ensure continuous United States participation and leadership in the exploration and utilization of space and as an essential instrument of national security, it is the policy of the United States to maintain an uninterrupted capability for human space flight and operations— (1) in low-Earth orbit; and (2) beyond low-Earth orbit once the capabili- ties described in section 421(f) of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Transi- tion Authorization Act of 2017 become avail- able. (b) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Administrator shall transmit an annual report to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives describing the progress being made toward de- veloping the Space Launch System and Orion and the estimated time before they will dem- onstrate crewed, orbital spaceflight. (Pub. L. 111–314, § 3, Dec. 18, 2010, 124 Stat. 3430; Pub. L. 115–10, title IV, § 417, Mar. 21, 2017, 131 Stat. 35.) HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES Revised Section Source (U.S. Code) Source (Statutes at Large) 70501(a) ...... 42 U.S.C. 16761(a). Pub. L. 109–155, title V, § 501(a), (b), Dec. 30, 2005, 119 Stat. 2927. 70501(b) ...... 42 U.S.C. 16761(b). In subsection (b), the words ‘‘The Administrator shall transmit an annual report’’ are substituted for ‘‘Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act [December 30, 2005] and annually thereafter, the Administrator shall transmit a report’’ to eliminate obsolete language. In subsection (b), the words ‘‘Committee on Science and Technology’’ are substituted for ‘‘Committee on Science’’ on authority of Rule X(1)(o) of the Rules of the House of Representatives, adopted by House Reso- lution No. 6 (110th Congress, January 5, 2007). Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT Section 421(f) of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Transition Authorization Act of 2017, referred to in subsec. (a)(2), is section 421(f) of Pub. L. 115–10, which is set out as a note under section 20301 of this title. AMENDMENTS 2017—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 115–10, § 417(1), amended sub- sec. (a) generally. Prior to amendment, text read as fol- lows: ‘‘It is the policy of the United States to possess the capability for human access to space on a contin- uous basis.’’ Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 115–10, § 417(2), substituted ‘‘Com- mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives describing the progress being made toward developing the Space Launch System and Orion’’ for ‘‘Committee on Science and Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor- tation of the Senate describing the progress being made toward developing the Crew Exploration Vehicle and the Crew Launch Vehicle’’. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries CHANGE OF NAME Committee on Science and Technology of House of Representatives changed to Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of House of Representatives by House Resolution No. 5, One Hundred Twelfth Congress, Jan. 5, 2011. TRANSITION Pub. L. 110–422, title VI, § 613, Oct. 15, 2008, 122 Stat. 4799, provided that: ‘‘(a) DISPOSITION OF SHUTTLE-RELATED ASSETS.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act [Oct. 15, 2008], the Ad- ministrator [of NASA] shall submit to Congress a plan describing the process for the disposition of the remaining Space Shuttle Orbiters and other Space Shuttle program-related hardware after the retire- ment of the Space Shuttle fleet. ‘‘(2) PLAN REQUIREMENTS.—The plan submitted under paragraph (1) shall include a description of a process by which educational institutions, science museums, and other appropriate organizations may acquire, through loan or disposal by the Federal Gov- ernment, Space Shuttle program hardware. ‘‘(3) PROHIBITION ON DISPOSITION BEFORE COMPLETION OF PLAN.—The Administrator shall not dispose of any Space Shuttle program hardware before the plan re- quired by paragraph (1) is submitted to Congress. ‘‘(b) SPACE SHUTTLE TRANSITION LIAISON OFFICE.— ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator shall de- velop a plan and establish a Space Shuttle Transition Liaison Office within the Office of Human Capital Management of NASA [National Aeronautics and Space Administration] to assist local communities affected by the termination of the Space Shuttle pro- gram in mitigating the negative impacts on such communities caused by such termination. The plan shall define the size of the affected local community that would receive assistance described in paragraph (2). ‘‘(2) MANNER OF ASSISTANCE.—In providing assist- ance under paragraph (1), the office established under such paragraph shall— ‘‘(A) offer nonfinancial, technical assistance to communities described in such paragraph to assist in the mitigation described in such paragraph; and ‘‘(B) serve as a clearinghouse to assist such com- munities in identifying services available from other Federal, State, and local agencies to assist in such mitigation. ‘‘(3) TERMINATION OF OFFICE.—The office established under paragraph (1) shall terminate 2 years after the completion of the last Space Shuttle flight. ‘‘(4) SUBMISSION.—Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act [Oct. 15, 2008], NASA shall provide a copy of the plan required by para- graph (1) to the Congress.’’ Pub. L. 110–161, div. B, title III, Dec. 26, 2007, 121 Stat. 1919, provided that: ‘‘The Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration shall prepare a strategy for minimizing job losses when the National Aeronautics and Space Administration transitions from the Space Shuttle to a successor human-rated space transport vehicle. This strategy shall include: (1) specific initiatives that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has undertaken, or plans to un- dertake, to maximize the utilization of existing civil service and contractor workforces at each of the af- fected Centers; (2) efforts to equitably distribute tasks Page 172 TITLE 51—NATIONAL AND COMMERCIAL SPACE PROGRAMS § 70502 and workload between the Centers to mitigate the brunt of job losses being borne by only certain Centers; (3) new workload, tasks, initiatives, and missions being secured for the affected Centers; and (4) overall projec- tions of future civil service and contractor workforce levels at the affected Centers. The Administrator shall transmit this strategy to Congress not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act [Dec. 26, 2007]. The Administrator shall update and transmit to Congress this strategy not less than every six months thereafter until the successor human-rated space trans- port vehicle is fully operational.’’ Pub. L. 109–155, title V, § 502, Dec. 30, 2005, 119 Stat. 2928, provided that: ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator [of the Na- tional Aeronautics and Space Administration] shall, to the fullest extent possible consistent with a successful development program, use the personnel, capabilities, assets, and infrastructure of the Space Shuttle program in developing the Crew Exploration Vehicle, Crew Launch Vehicle, and a heavy-lift launch vehicle. ‘‘(b) PLAN.—Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act [Dec. 30, 2005], the Administrator shall transmit to the Committee on Science [now Com- mittee on Science, Space, and Technology] of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Com- merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a plan describing how NASA [National Aeronautics and Space Administration] will proceed with its human space flight programs, which, at a minimum, shall de- scribe— ‘‘(1) how NASA will deploy personnel from, and use the facilities of, the Space Shuttle program to ensure that the Space Shuttle operates as safely as possible through its final flight and to ensure that personnel and facilities from the Space Shuttle program are used in NASA’s exploration programs in accordance with subsection (a); ‘‘(2) the planned number of flights the Space Shut- tle will make before its retirement; ‘‘(3) the means, other than the Space Shuttle and the Crew Exploration Vehicle, including commercial vehicles, that may be used to ferry crew and cargo to and from the ISS [International Space Station]; ‘‘(4) the intended purpose of lunar missions and the architecture for those missions; and ‘‘(5) the extent to which the Crew Exploration Vehi- cle will allow for the escape of the crew in an emer- gency. ‘‘(c) PERSONNEL.—The Administrator shall consult with other appropriate Federal agencies and with NASA contractors and employees to develop a transi- tion plan for any Federal and contractor personnel en- gaged in the Space Shuttle program who can no longer be retained because of the retirement of the Space Shuttle. The plan shall include actions to assist Fed- eral and contractor personnel in taking advantage of training, retraining, job placement and relocation pro- grams, and any other actions that NASA will take to assist the employees. The plan shall also describe how the Administrator will ensure that NASA and its con- tractors will have an appropriate complement of em- ployees to allow for the safest possible use of the Space Shuttle through its final flight. The Administrator shall transmit the plan to the Committee on Science [now Committee on Science, Space, and Technology] of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate not later than March 31, 2006.’’ § 70502. Exploration plan and programs The Administrator shall— (1) construct an architecture and implemen- tation plan for the Administration’s human exploration program that is not critically de- pendent on the achievement of milestones by fixed dates; (2) implement an exploration research and technology development program to enable human and robotic operations consistent with section 20302(b) of this title; (3) conduct an in-situ resource utilization technology program to develop the capability to use space resources to increase independ- ence from Earth, and sustain exploration be- yond low-Earth orbit; and (4) pursue aggressively automated ren- dezvous and docking capabilities that can sup- port the International Space Station and other mission requirements. (Pub. L. 111–314, § 3, Dec. 18, 2010, 124 Stat. 3430; Pub. L. 115–10, title IV, § 415, Mar. 21, 2017, 131 Stat. 34.) HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES Revised Section Source (U.S. Code) Source (Statutes at Large) 70502 .......... 42 U.S.C. 16763. Pub. L. 109–155, title V, § 503, Dec. 30, 2005, 119 Stat. 2929. Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2017—Par. (2). Pub. L. 115–10 amended par. (2) gen- erally. Prior to amendment, par. (2) read as follows: ‘‘implement an exploration technology development program to enable lunar human and robotic operations consistent with section 20302(b) of this title, including surface power to use on the Moon and other loca- tions;’’. § 70503. Ground-based analog capabilities (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may es- tablish a ground-based analog capability in re- mote United States locations in order to assist in the development of lunar operations, life sup- port, and in-situ resource utilization experience and capabilities. (b) ENVIRONMENTAL CHARACTERISTICS.—The Administrator shall select locations for the ac- tivities described in subsection (a) that— (1) are regularly accessible; (2) have significant temperature extremes and range; and (3) have access to energy and natural re- sources (including geothermal, permafrost, volcanic, or other potential resources). (c) INVOLVEMENT OF LOCAL POPULATIONS AND PRIVATE SECTOR PARTNERS.—In carrying out this section, the Administrator shall involve local populations, academia, and industrial part- ners as much as possible to ensure that ground- based benefits and applications are encouraged and developed. (Pub. L. 111–314, § 3, Dec. 18, 2010, 124 Stat. 3430.) HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES Revised Section Source (U.S. Code) Source (Statutes at Large) 70503 .......... 42 U.S.C. 16764. Pub. L. 109–155, title V, § 504, Dec. 30, 2005, 119 Stat. 2929. § 70504. Stepping stone approach to exploration (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administration— (1) may conduct missions to intermediate destinations in sustainable steps in accord- ance with section 20302(b) of this title, and on