[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4742 Introduced in House (IH)]
107th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4742
To restore a vision for the United States human space flight program by
instituting a series of incremental goals that will facilitate the
scientific exploration of the solar system and aid in the search for
life elsewhere in the universe, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 15, 2002
Mr. Lampson (for himself, Mr. Green of Texas, Mr. Bentsen, Mr. Carson
of Oklahoma, Mr. Hall of Texas, Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, Mr. Frost,
and Mr. Smith of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Science
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To restore a vision for the United States human space flight program by
instituting a series of incremental goals that will facilitate the
scientific exploration of the solar system and aid in the search for
life elsewhere in the universe, and for other purposes.
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 ``Space Exploration Act of 2002''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) It is in the national interest of the United States to
have a vigorous, outward-looking program of space exploration,
encompassing both robotic spacecraft missions and human space
flight.
(2) The United States has achieved major accomplishments in
its human space flight program over the last 4 decades,
including the first crewed lunar landing, the first reusable
crewed Space Shuttle, and the first truly international Space
Station.
(3) There currently is no commitment to the accomplishment
of any challenging goals in human space flight after the
completion of the International Space Station.
(4) While a significant amount of scientific research can
and should be accomplished by robotic means, a comprehensive
plan of scientific exploration of the solar system and search
for life beyond Earth will require both robotic spacecraft
missions and human space flight to achieve its goals.
(5) Properly coordinated, the Nation's human space flight
program does not compete with robotic exploration but instead
complements it and provides additional capabilities for
scientific research.
(6) The successful repair and servicing of the Hubble Space
Telescope demonstrates the potential for the productive
participation of the human space flight program in advancing
the goals of scientific exploration.
(7) There have been numerous commissions and study panels
over the last 30 years that have articulated goals for the
future of human space flight, and additional studies to
establish goals are not needed at this time.
(8) While there are significant technical and programmatic
hurdles to be overcome in carrying out human space flight
activities beyond low Earth orbit, the main hurdle to be
overcome is the lack of a national commitment to such
activities.
(9) In the absence of a commitment to specific and
challenging human space flight goals, programs to develop
generic technological capabilities for human space flight are
likely to be unfocused, inefficient, and short-lived.
(10) It is in the national interest of the United States to
commit to a challenging set of incremental goals for the
Nation's human space flight program in order to facilitate the
scientific exploration of the solar system and aid in the
search for life beyond Earth and to commit to the attainment of
those goals.
(11) While the ultimate goal of human space flight in the
inner solar system is the exploration of the planet Mars, there
are other important goals for exploration of the inner solar
system that will advance our scientific understanding and allow
the United States to develop and demonstrate capabilities that
will be needed for the scientific exploration and eventual
settlement of Mars.
(12) A bold and sustained human space flight initiative of
scientific exploration should contain progressively more
challenging objectives, including missions to the Earth-Sun
libration points, Earth-orbit crossing asteroids, the lunar
surface, the satellites of Mars, and the surface of Mars.
(13) A human space flight initiative with incremental goals
and milestones will allow a continuing series of
accomplishments to be achieved throughout the duration of the
initiative, permit the ``lessons learned'' and capabilities
acquired from previous implementation steps to be incorporated
into subsequent phases of the initiative, and allow adjustments
to be made to the implementation of the initiative as new
opportunities or challenges arise.
(14) The National Aeronautics and Space Administration
should develop a roadmap and implementation plan for a
progressive program of human space flight beyond low Earth
orbit in support of the scientific exploration of the solar
system and the search for life beyond Earth.
(15) Existing and planned investments in the Space Shuttle,
International Space Station, and the Space Launch Initiative
should be leveraged to help advance the goals of the human
space flight initiative while avoiding duplication of effort.
(16) The President should ensure that sufficient resources
are provided to the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration and that appropriate financial management
controls are in place to ensure that the implementation plan
can be carried out in a timely and cost-effective manner.
(17) The United States captured the imagination of the
peoples of the world and inspired a generation of young people
to enter careers in science and engineering when it
successfully landed humans on the surface of the Moon in the
years 1969 through 1972.
(18) A bold and sustained human space exploration
initiative has the potential to inspire a new generation of
young people in the same way as the Apollo program did.
(19) Properly constructed, a bold and sustained human space
exploration initiative has the potential to engage the
international community in peaceful cooperation in space.
(20) Completion of the International Space Station with a
full crew complement of 7 astronauts and robust research
capabilities is essential if the United States is to carry out
successfully a comprehensive initiative of scientific
exploration of the solar system that involves human space
flight.
SEC. 3. DEFINITION.
For purposes of this Act the term ``Administrator'' means the
Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
SEC. 4. HUMAN SPACE FLIGHT INITIATIVE.
(a) Goals.--The Administrator shall set the following goals for the
future activities of the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration's human space flight program:
(1) Within 8 years after the date of enactment of this Act,
the development and flight demonstration of a reusable space
vehicle capable of carrying humans from low Earth orbit to the
L 1 and L 2 Earth-Sun libration points and back for the
purposes of assembling large-scale space structures such as
would be required for scientific observatories, to the Earth-
Moon libration points and back, and to lunar orbit and back.
(2) Within 10 years after the date of enactment of this
Act, the development and flight demonstration of a reusable
space vehicle capable of carrying humans from low Earth orbit
to and from an Earth-orbit crossing asteroid and rendezvousing
with it.
(3) Within 15 years after the date of enactment of this
Act, the development and flight demonstration of a reusable
space vehicle capable of carrying humans from lunar orbit to
the surface of the Moon and back, as well as the development
and deployment of a human-tended habitation and research
facility on the lunar surface.
(4) Within 20 years after the date of enactment of this
Act, the development and flight demonstration of a reusable
space vehicle capable of carrying humans from low Earth orbit
to and from Martian orbit, the development and deployment of a
human-tended habitation and research facility on the surface of
one of the moons of Mars, and the development and flight
demonstration of a reusable space vehicle capable of carrying
humans from Martian orbit to the surface of Mars and back.
(b) Office of Exploration.--
(1) Establishment.--The Administrator shall establish an
Office of Exploration, which shall be headed by an Associate
Administrator reporting directly to the Administrator.
(2) Functions.--The Office of Exploration shall, in
coordination with the Office of Space Flight, the Office of
Space Science, and all other relevant Offices, be responsible
for planning, budgeting, and managing activities undertaken by
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to accomplish
the goals stated in subsection (a).
(c) Implementation.--
(1) Competitions.--The Administrator shall establish a
process for conducting competitions for innovative, cost-
efficient mission concepts to accomplish each of the goals
stated in subsection (a). The competitions shall be open to
entities or consortia from industry, academia, nongovernmental
research organizations, National Aeronautics and Space
Administration Centers, and other governmental organizations.
Mission concepts may include the provision of a commercial item
or service sufficient to accomplish all or part of the relevant
goal. Mission concepts that include international participation
and cost-sharing shall be encouraged. The Administrator shall
solicit proposals for the competition with respect to the goal
stated in subsection (a)(1) not later than 180 days after the
date of the enactment of this Act, and shall determine when it
is appropriate to conduct competitions with respect to each of
the other goals stated in subsection (a).
(2) Independent review of proposals.--The Administrator
shall establish an independent panel to conduct a merit-based
competitive review of the proposals submitted under each
competition conducted under this subsection, and to submit a
rank-ordered evaluation of the proposals to the Administrator.
(3) Contents.--Each proposal submitted as part of a
competition under this subsection shall contain a proposed
implementation plan that includes--
(A) the mission concept;
(B) a cost estimate;
(C) a funding profile;
(D) a schedule; and
(E) a technological risk reduction roadmap for any
required technologies not currently available for use
in the proposed mission concept.
(4) Review of cost estimate and funding profile.--The
Administrator shall provide for the completion of an
independent external review of the cost estimate and funding
profile of the competitively selected proposal for each of the
competitions conducted under this subsection within 60 days
after the completion of the competitive selection process.
(5) Report to congress.--The Administrator shall provide to
the Committee on Science of the House of Representatives and to
the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the
Senate the implementation plan of the competitively selected
proposal, along with the results of the independent external
review under paragraph (4), for each competition conducted
under this subsection, within 90 days after the completion of
the competitive selection process.
(d) Implementation Plan Updates and Reviews.--
(1) Updates.--The implementation plans of the competitively
selected proposals under subsection (c) shall be updated every
year by the manager of the project, as designated by the
original implementation plan.
(2) Updated Implementation plan review.--The Administrator
shall have an independent external review panel review each of
the updated implementation plans required by paragraph (1), and
shall provide the results of those reviews to the Committee on
Science of the House of Representatives and to the Committee on
Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate within 30
days after each review is completed.
(3) Review elements.--Reviews under paragraph (2) shall
address at least the following:
(A) The reasonableness of the assumed schedule for
the cost estimate and funding profile.
(B) The degree to which the implementation plan is
consistent with the competitively selected mission
concept.
(C) The degree to which the relevant areas of
technical and programmatic risk are addressed and risk
mitigation plans are in place.
(D) The extent to which the implementation plan
utilizes commercially available goods and services when
available and appropriate to achieve the goal.
(E) The extent to which the plan makes use of
existing capabilities developed in previous phases of
the human space flight initiative or in other National
Aeronautics and Space Administration programs when
available and appropriate in lieu of undertaking new
development programs.
(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to the Administrator for carrying out this Act--
(1) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2003; and
(2) $200,000,000 for fiscal year 2004.
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