[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1694 Engrossed Amendment House (EAH)]

<DOC>
                In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

                                                     December 16, 2020.
    Resolved, That the bill from the Senate (S. 1694) entitled ``An Act 
to require any Federal agency that issues licenses to conduct lunar 
activities to include in the requirements for such licenses an 
agreement relating to the preservation and protection of the Apollo 11 
landing site, and for other purposes.'', do pass with the following

                              AMENDMENTS:

            Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``One Small Step to Protect Human 
Heritage in Space Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) On July 16, 1969, the Apollo 11 spacecraft launched 
        from the John F. Kennedy Space Center carrying Neil A. 
        Armstrong, Edwin E. ``Buzz'' Aldrin, Jr., and Michael Collins.
            (2) July 20, 2019, marked the 50th anniversary of the date 
        on which the Apollo 11 spacecraft landed on the Moon and Neil 
        Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to set foot 
        on a celestial body off the Earth.
            (3) The landing of the Apollo 11 spacecraft and humanity's 
        first off-world footprints are achievements unparalleled in 
        history, a direct product of the work and perseverance of the 
        more than 400,000 individuals who contributed to the 
        development of the Apollo missions on the shoulders of 
        centuries of science and engineering pioneers from all corners 
        of the world.
            (4) Among the thousands of individuals who have contributed 
        to the achievements of the National Aeronautics and Space 
        Administration (in this section referred to as ``NASA'') are 
        African-American women such as Katherine Johnson, Dorothy 
        Vaughn, Mary Jackson, and Dr. Christine Darden, who made 
        critical contributions to NASA space programs. Katherine 
        Johnson worked at NASA for 35 years and calculated the 
        trajectory of the Apollo 11 landing and the trajectories for 
        the spaceflights of astronauts Alan Shepard and John Glenn. 
        Katherine Johnson, together with many other individuals the 
        work of whom often went unacknowledged, helped broaden the 
        scope of space travel and charted new frontiers for humanity's 
        exploration of space.
            (5) The landing of the Apollo 11 spacecraft was made on 
        behalf of all humankind, and Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin 
        were accompanied by messages of peace from the leaders of more 
        than 70 countries.
            (6) The lunar landing sites of the Apollo 11 spacecraft, 
        the robotic spacecraft that preceded the Apollo 11 mission, and 
        the crewed and robotic spacecraft that followed, are of 
        outstanding universal value to humanity.
            (7) Such landing sites--
                    (A) are the first archaeological sites with human 
                activity that are not on Earth;
                    (B) provide evidence of the first achievements of 
                humankind in the realm of space travel and exploration; 
                and
                    (C) contain artifacts and other evidence of human 
                exploration activities that remain a potential source 
                of cultural, historical, archaeological, 
                anthropological, scientific, and engineering knowledge.
            (8) On July 20, 2011, NASA published the voluntary guidance 
        entitled ``NASA's Recommendations to Space-Faring Entities: How 
        to Protect and Preserve the Historic and Scientific Value of 
        U.S. Government Lunar Artifacts''.
            (9) In March 2018, the Office of Science and Technology 
        Policy published a report entitled ``Protecting & Preserving 
        Apollo Program Lunar Landing Sites & Artifacts''.
            (10) Article one of the ``Treaty on Principles Governing 
        the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer 
        Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies,'' 
        commonly known as the ``Outer Space Treaty,'' states ``[o]uter 
        space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, shall be 
        free for exploration and use by all States without 
        discrimination of any kind, on a basis of equality and in 
        accordance with international law, and there shall be free 
        access to all areas of celestial bodies.''
            (11) Article eight of the Outer Space Treaty states, ``[a] 
        State Party to the Treaty on whose registry an object launched 
        into outer space is carried shall retain jurisdiction and 
        control over such object, and over any personnel thereof, while 
        in outer space or on a celestial body. Ownership of objects 
        launched into outer space, including objects landed or 
        constructed on a celestial body, and of their component parts, 
        is not affected by their presence in outer space or on a 
        celestial body or by their return to the Earth.''
            (12) Article nine of the Outer Space Treaty states, ``[i]n 
        the exploration and use of outer space, including the moon and 
        other celestial bodies, States Parties to the Treaty shall be 
        guided by the principle of co-operation and mutual assistance 
        and shall conduct all their activities in outer space, 
        including the moon and other celestial bodies, with due regard 
        to the corresponding interests of all other States Parties to 
        the Treaty,'' and continues, ``[i]f a State Party to the Treaty 
        has reason to believe that an activity or experiment planned by 
        it or its nationals in outer space, including the moon and 
        other celestial bodies, would cause potentially harmful 
        interference with activities of other States Parties in the 
        peaceful exploration and use of outer space, including the moon 
        and other celestial bodies, it shall undertake appropriate 
        international consultations before proceeding with any such 
        activity or experiment. A State Party to the Treaty which has 
        reason to believe that an activity or experiment planned by 
        another State Party in outer space, including the moon and 
        other celestial bodies, would cause potentially harmful 
        interference with activities in the peaceful exploration and 
        use of outer space, including the moon and other celestial 
        bodies, may request consultation concerning the activity or 
        experiment.''.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) as commercial enterprises and more countries acquire 
        the ability to land on the Moon, it is necessary to encourage 
        the development of best practices to respect the principle of 
        due regard and to limit harmful interference to the Apollo 
        landing site artifacts in acknowledgment of the human effort 
        and innovation they represent, as well as their archaeological, 
        anthropological, historical, scientific, and engineering 
        significance and value; and
            (2) the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space 
        Administration should continue to develop best practices to 
        respect the principle of due regard and limit harmful 
        interference with historic Apollo lunar landing site artifacts.

SEC. 3. BEST PRACTICES RELATED TO APOLLO HISTORIC LUNAR LANDING SITE 
              ARTIFACTS.

    (a) In General.--The Administrator of the National Aeronautics and 
Space Administration shall--
            (1) add the recommendations in subsection (b) as a 
        condition or requirement to contracts, grants, agreements, 
        partnerships or other arrangements pertaining to lunar 
        activities carried out by, for, or in partnership with the 
        National Aeronautics and Space Administration;
            (2) inform other relevant Federal agencies of the 
        recommendations described in subsection (b); and
            (3) encourage the use of best practices, consistent with 
        the recommendations in subsection (b), by other relevant 
        Federal agencies.
    (b) Recommendations Described.--The recommendations described in 
this subsection are--
            (1) ``NASA's Recommendations to Space-Faring Entities: How 
        to Protect and Preserve the Historic and Scientific Value of 
        U.S. Government Lunar Artifacts'' issued by the National 
        Aeronautics and Space Administration on July 20, 2011, and 
        updated on October 28, 2011; and
            (2) any successor recommendations, guidelines, best 
        practices, or standards relating to the principle of due regard 
        and the limitation of harmful interference with Apollo landing 
        site artifacts issued by the National Aeronautics and Space 
        Administration.
    (c) Exemption.--The Administrator may waive the conditions or 
requirements from subsection (a)(1) as it applies to an individual 
contract, grant, agreement, partnership or other arrangement pertaining 
to lunar activities carried out by, for, or in partnership with the 
National Aeronautics and Space Administration so long as--
            (1) such waiver is accompanied by a finding from the 
        Administrator that carrying out the obligation of subsection 
        (a)(1) would be unduly prohibitive to an activity or activities 
        of legitimate and significant historical, archaeological, 
        anthropological, scientific, or engineering value; and
            (2) the finding in paragraph (1) is provided to the 
        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 30 days prior to 
        the waiver taking effect.

            Amend the title so as to read: ``An Act to require the 
        National Aeronautics and Space Administration to add 
        recommendations and inform other relevant agencies of 
        information relating to the principle of due regard and the 
        limitation of harmful interference with Apollo landing site 
        artifacts, and for other purposes.''.

            Attest:

                                                                 Clerk.
116th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                                S. 1694

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                               AMENDMENTS