[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1855 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1855

 To authorize the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space 
   Administration 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 trajectories.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 12, 2003

   Mr. Allen introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To authorize the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space 
   Administration 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 trajectories.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 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. PETE CONRAD ASTRONOMY AWARD PROGRAM.

    (a) Program Authorized.--The Administrator of the National 
Aeronautics and Space Administration (hereafter referred to as the 
``Administrator'') is authorized to establish the Charles ``Pete'' 
Conrad Astronomy Awards Program. The Administrator is authorized to 
contract with the Minor Planet Center of the Smithsonian Astrophysical 
Observatory (hereafter referred to as the ``Minor Planet Center'') to 
administer the program.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of the program authorized by subsection 
(a) shall be to award outstanding amateur astronomers who make asteroid 
discoveries and to augment asteroid discovery efforts by the 
Government.
    (c) Award Categories.--The award program authorized under 
subsection (a) shall consist of 3 categories of awards as follows:
            (1) First category.--An award in the first category shall 
        be presented annually to the amateur astronomer who, using 
        amateur equipment only, discovers the largest absolute 
        magnitude new asteroid having a near-Earth orbit during the 
        preceding calendar year.
            (2) Second category.--An award in the second category shall 
        be presented annually to an amateur astronomer for pre-
        discovery and recovery efforts, including--
                    (A) the discovery of asteroids by an amateur as a 
                result of information produced by professional 
                telescopes or as a result of the amateur's use of time 
                on professional equipment; and
                    (B) efforts to locate newly discovered asteroids 
                using old images and already discovered near-Earth 
                orbit asteroids that have been ``lost''.
            (3) Third category.--An award in the third category shall 
        be presented annually to the amateur astronomer, or 
        professional not funded for optical astronomy, who provides the 
        greatest service to update the minor planet catalogue. Eligible 
        discoveries may be made by visual, photographic, or electronic 
        means.
    (d) Guidelines for Awarding Prizes.--General guidelines for the 
awarding of prizes are as follows:
            (1) Prizes shall be awarded to the person or group with the 
        greatest contributions as determined by the Minor Planet Center 
        for the second and third categories.
            (2) The award in the first category shall not be presented 
        for years in which there are no eligible asteroid discoveries.
            (3) All awards are reserved for United States citizens.
            (4) The decisions of the Minor Planet Center in 
        administering the award program are final.
    (e) Eligibility.--Individuals are eligible to apply for the awards 
authorized under this section if the following conditions are 
satisfied:
            (1) All applicants must demonstrate that they are not 
        funded to use professional telescopes or observations and are 
        acting solely in an amateur capacity.
            (2) Government and professional astronomers associated with 
        the near-Earth orbit asteroid project, as well as members of 
        their immediate families, are not eligible for the awards.
    (f) Regulations.--The Administrator or the Minor Planet Center may 
prescribe such regulations as may be necessary to implement the program 
authorized by this section.
    (g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated $10,000 for each of fiscal years 2004 and 2005 to carry 
out this Act.
                                 <all>