Omnibus Space Commercialization Act (Restructuring NASA)

[Jim Bowery]

TITLE X--RESTRUCTURING OF NASA TO SUPPORT SPACE COMMERCIALIZATION AND UNITED
STATES SPACE POLICY.

SEC. 1001. SHORT TITLE.
This Title may be referred to as the "Space Program Revitalization
Act".

SEC. 1002. AMENDMENT OF THE NASA CHARTER.
In order to revitalize our space program, create commercial
opportunity in space, bring the NASA charter into conformance with this Act,
and national needs; PL 85-568 is amended as follows:
(a) RESPECT FOR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS.--Sections 305 and 306 of
PL 85-568 are deleted in their entirety.
(b) PUBLIC AND OPEN CIVILIAN SPACE ACTIVITIES.--Subsections 304 (a)
and (b) of PL 85-568 are deleted in their entirety. Subsections (c), (d) and
(e) are resequenced as (a), (b) and (c), respectively. Subsection (B) of
section 303 is also deleted.
(c) POLICY CONCORDANCE.--Section 101 of PL 85-568 shall be amended as
follows:
(1) the word 'commercial' shall be inserted between 'adequate
provision shall be made for' and 'aeronautical and space activities.' in
subsection (b).
(2) the phrase 'that such activities shall' in subsection (b) shall be
replaced by 'that appropriate research shall'.
(3) the phrase 'exercising control over aeronautical and space
activities sponsored by the United States' in subsection (b) shall be replaced
by 'that shall sponsor appropriate aeronautical and space related research'.
(4) subsection 101 (c) 3 of PL 85-568 is deleted.
(5) in subsection 101 (c) 4 of PL 85-568, the phrase 'peaceful and
scientific' is changed to 'peaceful economic and scientific'.
(6) in subsection 101 (c) 5 of PL 85-568, the phrase 'and technology
and in the application thereof to the conduct of peaceful activities within
and outside the atmosphere' is deleted.
(7) in subsection 101 (c) 7 of PL 85-568, the phrase 'and in the
peaceful application of the results thereof' is deleted.
(8) subsection 101 (c) 8 of PL 85-568 is replaced by the following:
"To conduct and support basic research related to aeronautics, space science,
and related fields, with relatively small expenditures permitted in support
of appropriate applied research and on rare occasion exploratory development
in order to foster the rapid growth of private economic activity in space. No
development shall ever be directly funded."
(9) section (d) is amended by inserting 'and in the Space Policy Act
of 1991' before the final period.
(c) DEFINITIONS.--subsection (3) is added to section 103 of PL 85-568.
This new subsection shall read:
"the definitions section of the Omnibus Space Commercialization Act of 1991 is
incorporated herein by reference."
(d) AMENDMENTS TO SECTION 201 OF PL 85-658.
(1) Subsection (e) 2 shall be amended by changing the phrase
'activities to be sponsored by agencies of the United States' to 'research to
be supported by agencies of the United States'.
(2) Subsection (e) 3 shall be replaced by 'designate and fix
responsibility for the sponsorship and conduct of appropriate aeronautical and
space research;'.
(e) AMENDMENTS TO SECTION 202 OF PL 85-658.
(1) All occurences of the phrase 'National Aeronautics and Space
Administration' are replaced with the phrase 'National Aeronautics and Space
Research Institutes'.
(2) All occurrences of the word 'Administration' are replaced with the
phrase 'Ministry and Institutes'.
(3) The first occurence of the word 'is' in subsection (a) is changed
to 'are'.
(f) AMENDMENTS TO SECTION 203 OF PL 85-658.
(1) The title is changed to 'FUNCTIONS OF THE INSTITUTES'
(2) Subsection (a) 1 is replaced by 'plan, direct, sponsor and
conduct aeronautical and space research;'
(3) Subsection (a) 2 is amended by replacing the phrase starting with
'through' by 'through support of researchers who will acquire needed goods and
services from the private sector'.
(4) Subsection (b) 4 is amended by inserting the words 'conditional
and' before the word 'unconditional'.
(g) AMENDMENT TO SECTION 205 OF PL 85-658.--The phrase 'and the
Omnibus Space Commercialization Act of 1991' shall be inserted after the
phrase 'pursuant to this act' and before the comma following it.
(h) CREATION OF NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE RESEARCH
INSTITUTES.--Sections 308 et seq. are added to PL 85-658 as follows:
"NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE RESEARCH INSTITUTES"
"SEC. 308. The Administration shall consist of nine aeronautics and space
research institutes and one aeronautics and space research ministry."
"(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND RESEARCH
MINISTRY.--The current NASA headquarters is hereby declared the National
Aeronautics and Research Ministry (hereinafter referred to as the Ministry).
It functions shall be to support extramural research, to solicit input from
industry, academia and elsewhere as to outstanding aeronautics and space
research needs, and to pass this on to the various National Aeronautics and
Space Research Institutes (hereinafter referred to as the Institutes) as input
to their in house and extramural research programs. The Ministry shall focus
on supporting new, innovative, cutting edge research due to its central role
in the evaluation and discussion of new topics, and shall assume that
whatever work it supports that demonstrates great merit will be picked up in a
few years by the more discipline focussed Institutes. The Ministry shall
periodically conduct independent reviews of the work performed at, and
supported by, the various Institutes. These reviews shall be conducted in
cooperation with the National Academies of Science and of Engineering,
various scientific and professional societies, and recognized experts in the
field. The results of such reviews shall be made publicly available, and
shall be transmitted to the Congress. The ministry shall have no direct
managerial authority over the Institutes, and shall submit a separate budget
to the Congress, as shall each Institute."
"(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF THE LEWIS AERONAUTICS AND SPACE RESEARCH
INSTITUTE.--The Lewis Aeronautics and Space Research Institute shall be formed
form the Lewis Research Center and associated facilities. It shall initially
focus on basic research related to: internal and external fluid mechanics;
aeronautical propulsion systems components; aeronautical propulsion system
instrumentation, sensors and controls; novel air breathing propulsion system
concepts; aeronautical propulsion noise reduction; aircraft ice protection;
structural composite materials for propulsion systems; high temperature
structural composites; advanced alloys, intermetallics and metal matrix
materials; computational structural methods; high temperature
superconductors; space mechanisms; space power systems technology; space
propulsion; advanced space propulsion; microgravity materials processing;
and microgravity science."
"(c) ESTABLISHMENT OF THE GODDARD SPACE RESEARCH INSTITUTE.--The
Goddard Space Research Institute shall be formed form the Goddard Spaceflight
Center and associated facilities, including the Goddard Institute for Space
Science. It shall initially focus on basic research related to: innovative
and special purpose materials for space flight; telerobotic and biomechanical
system software; telerobotic electromechanical systems; heterogeneous
distributed database management; scheduling; sensing of the earth's
atmosphere; polarization and depolarization in light reflection from
planetary surfaces; atmospheric remote sensing; space astronomy; high
altitiude meteorology; astronomy from high altitudes; high temperature
superconductors; spacecraft flight dynamics; and rocket engine internal
fluid flow dynamics."
"(d) ESTABLISHMENT OF THE JOHNSON SPACE RESEARCH INSTITUTE.--The
Johnson Space Research Institute shall be formed form the Johnson Space Center
and associated facilities. It shall initially focus on basic research related
to: spacecraft structures and mechanisms; materials for space systems;
lunar resource utilization; robotic adaptive grasping systems; artificial
intelligence for space applications; teleoperation and robotics; thermal
management; electrical power control and distribution; high temperature
superconductors; space medicine; space life sciences; and life support."
"(e) ESTABLISHMENT OF THE KENNEDY SPACE RESEARCH INSTITUTE.--The
Kennedy Space Research Institute shall be formed form the Kennedy Research
Center and associated facilities. It shall initially focus on basic research
related to: space life sciences; batteries; life support; human factors
in space; human reaction to the space environment; ground environmental
monitoring; instrumentation for space related operations measurement and
characterization; weather forecasting and meteorology; fate of propellants
and exhaust products in the terrestrial environment; as well as avian ecology
and behavior."
"(f) ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MARSHALL SPACE RESEARCH INSTITUTE.--The
Marshall Space Research Institute shall be formed form the Marshall
Sapceflight Center and associated facilities, including any parts not
privatized of the Stennis Space Center and National Space Technology
Laboratory. It shall initially focus on basic research related to: rarefied
gas dynamics; space environmental effects and surface degradation; welding;
martian resource utilization; earth observation; micrometeoroid and debris
environment and protection; thermal management; life support; microgravity
materials processing; microgravity science; and equipment acoustics and
vibration analysis."
"(g) ESTABLISHMENT OF THE LANGLEY AERONAUTICS AND SPACE RESEARCH
INSTITUTE.--The Langley Aeronautics and Space Research Institute shall be
formed form the Langley Research Center and associated facilities. It shall
initially focus on basic research related to: experimental aerodynamics;
theoretical aerodynamics and viscous flow; hypersonic aerodynamics;
hypersonic flight systems; wind tunnel instrumentation; aircraft noise
reduction; aircraft flight environments; control of fixed wing aircraft;
aerospace composite materials; nondestructive characterization of materials
properties; light alloy metallics; telerobotic systems; software
reliability; sensing and study of aerosol and clouds; earth observation;
control of large space structures; guidance, navigation and control; and
chemical vapor deposition in microgravity."
"(h) ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FEYNMAN SPACE RESEARCH INSTITUTE.--The
Feynman Space Research Institute shall be formed form the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory and associated facilities. It shall initially focus on basic
research related to: active structural elements; high temperature
superconducting materials; lunar resource utilization; martian resource
utilization; asteroidal resource utilization; distributed memory
multiprocessor applications; image processing; local data processing and
feature extraction; innovative electromagnetic sensors; planetary
atmospheric sciences; planetary and solar system astronomy; submillimeter
astronomy and astrophysics; fate of rocket and other propulsion system
exhaust products in the space environment; electronic device fabrication;
and optical communications."
"(i) ESTABLISHMENT OF THE AMES AERONAUTICS AND SPACE RESEARCH
INSTITUTE.--The Ames Aeronautics and Space Research Institute shall be formed
form the Ames Research Center and associated facilities including the Dryden
flight center. It shall initially focus on basic research related to:
computational fluid dynamics and computational chemistry; computational
physics; configurational aerodynamics, including vorticies; rotorcraft
automatic guidance; aircraft flight testing techniques; flight research
sensors and instrumentation; very high altitude aircraft flight;
aeronautical human factors and flight management systems; asteroidal resource
utilization; knowledge based systems for space applications; image
processing; infrared astronomy; space life sciences; exobiology; life
support; and closed system ecology."
"(j) ESTABLISHMENT OF THE STENNIS AERONAUTICS AND SPACE RESEARCH
INSTITUTE.--The Stennis Aeronautics and Space Research Institute shall be
formed form the Stennis Space Center and associated facilities. It shall
initially focus on basic research related to: earth remote sensing;
geographical information; spatial data management for geograpical
information; airborne remote sensing; life support; and closed system
ecology."
"(k) ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SHUTTLE FLIGHT AGENCY.--An independent Space
Shuttle flight agency shall be formed from those portions of the Johnson,
Marshall and Kennedy Space Centers which support the shuttle. The shuttle
flight agency shall continue to operate the shuttle to support near term space
science needs until it can be privatized. When the space shuttle is
privatized, the employees of the shuttle flight agency shall be given the
choice of retiring as if they had five additional years of service, or of
returning to research at any Aeronautics and Space Research Instituet of their
choice, except the one derived from the NASA field center they were at when
the Shuttle Flight Agency was formed."
"(l) PRIMARY ACTIVITIES.--The Ministry and Institutes are prohibited
from managing their own development programs. They are barred from funding
development directly. Their function is to fund scientific research through
peer review and similar mechanisms. Their budgets will primarily support
extramural research. Ministry and Institute personnel will devote themselves
to their own research so that the nation may benefit from their special
knowledge and experience."
"(m) OPTION FOR EARLY RETIREMENT.--All NASA employees shall be given
the option of retiring as if they had five years of additional service if they
do so within six months of the date this Act enters into law."

"SEC. 309. TRANSITION PLAN"
"(a) INDEPENDENT CENTER CHANCELLORS AND BOARDS OF REGENTS TO BE
APPOINTED.--"The President shall appoint a Chancellor for the Ministry and
each of the Institutes with the advice and consent of the Senate."
"(1) The chancellor shall nominate ten Regents to a Board of Regents
which shall provide direction for the Ministry or respective Institute."
"(2) Each Regent shall be appointed as part of the annual Institute
authorization process."
"(3) Each Regent shall serve a five year term, with two coming up for
replacement each year."
"(4) Regents may not succeed themselves."
"(5) Each Chancellor shall be replaced at the enactment of the
decennial charter reauthorization."
"(6) No Chancellor may succeed himself."
"(b) EXTRAMURAL RESEARCH TO BE NURTURED AND PROTECTED IN THE
TRANSITON.--No extramural research effort of the Ministry or any Institute
shall suffer a constant dollar budget decrease before January first, 1997,
regardless of the expiration of any existing contract or grant."
"(1) This shall also apply to those components of a larger effort
which are basic research."
"(2) In the case of (1) above, a grant shall be expeditiously awarded
to the person or persons actually performing the research."
"(3) Funds shall be conserved by furloughing Ministry and Institute
civil servants if this is necessary to ensure continuing support of extramural
research."
"(c) TRIAGE FOR EXISTING R&D EFFORTS.--All existing federally
supported efforts which do not qualify as basic research shall be separated
into three groups. Those which can be turned into or broken down into basic
research efforts, those where applied research, advanced development,
development or operations can be turned over to the private sector through
appropriate contractual arraingements not lasting more than two years, and
those which can neither be broken down into basic research nor turned over to
the private sector expeditiously."
"(1) Those programs in the first group will be broken down into basic
research projects, which shall be funded at their current level for the next
five years via grants."
"(2) Those programs in the second group will be privatized
expeditiously through whatever contracting arraingements are necessary and
appropriate, but in no case will grants, contracts, or direct transfer of
federal funds exist between the National Aeronautics and Space Institutes and
these programs more than two years after this Act enters into law."
"(3) Those programs in the third group shall be terminated immediately
upon such determination, and in no case later than 60 days after the date
this Act enters into law."
"(d) RETURNING PROGRAM MANAGERS TO RESEARCH.--Any Ministry or
Institute employee currently engaged in management of any type shall have the
option of returning to research on a problem they define, with adequate
sponsorship, if they devote all of their efforts to this problem and no
longer participate in management activities."
"(e) DEFINING INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH PROGRAMS.--The first task of the
Chancellor and Regents shall be to describe the existing research activities
and plans of their institution. They shall then determine upon a rational
research plan for their institution, and present it to the Congress for its
use in appropriating and authorizing. The Chancellors and Regents shall from
time to time as they deem appropriate transmit updated and amended plans to
the Congress."
"(f) DEFINING INSTITUTIONAL ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE.--The second task
of the Chancellor and Regents shall be to describe the existing organizational
structure of their institution. They shall then determine upon a means of
reorganizing this into a structure appropriate to a research institute, and
present this plan to the Congress for its use in appropriating and
authorizing. The Chancellors and Regents shall from time to time as they deem
appropriate transmit updated and amended plans to the Congress."
"(g) EMPLOYEE MERIT REVIEW.--In order to assist Ministry and Institute
employees in their new duties, evaluation boards consisting of well published
and respected space science and engineering researchers will be selected and
convened by the National Academies of Science and Engineering with the
assistance of the various professional societies to evaluate the documented
previous work of all then-current Institute and Ministry employees. These
evaluations will be weighed heavily in future promotion and compensation
reviews, and will be used to identify any weaknesses the employees might need
help in overcoming in their new roles. Such evaluations shall begin six
months after the date this Act enters into law, and shall be completed within
two years thereafter."
"(h) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.--The Chancellors of the Ministry and the
Institutes prepare reports detailing their actions under subsections 309 (b)
through (f). These reports shall be transmitted to the cognizant authorizing
committees of the House and the Senate within two years of the Chancellor's
confirmation by the Senate. "

"SEC. 310. SUNSET LAW."
"(a) LEGAL BASIS FOR CONTINUING OPERATION.--The Ministry and
Institutions shall require specific, periodic charter reauthorization in
order to continue to exist and operate. Failure of such reauthorization to be
provided when required shall result in the following:"
"(1) Retirement of all civil service and other employees at the
organization as if they had five years additional service, except for those
who are not eligible for retirement, who shall be retired or vested as
appropriate as if they met minimum requirements for these."
"(2) Sale of all real property, facilities, equipment, and other
assets at public auction within 180 days, and abandonment in place thereafter
of anything not so sold."
"(3) Redistribution of all funds appropriated but not yet expended
among the remaining National Aeronautics and Space Research Institutes in
proportion to their appropriations for that year."
"(b) MECHANISM FOR REAUTHORIZATION.--A specific, independent Act,
independent of any other legislation, must be passed and signed into law in
order to allow continuing operation of the Ministry or any Institute until its
next periodic reauthorization is required."
"(1) Such a bill will first be heard before the Investigations and
Oversight subcommittee of the Senate and House committees which have
authorization authority over the Ministry or Insititute in question."
"(2) The reauthorization Act will serve as a vehicle to provide long
term policy guidance to the organization, as well as to identify specific
problems and their solutions."
"(3) The reauthorization Act shall not in any way serve the function
of authorizing expenditures, or any of the other functions typically taken
care of in the year to year authorization process."
"(4) The reauthorization Act may only be considered during the fiscal
year in which charter reauthorization is required, and must pass before the
end of that fiscal year for continuing authority to operate to exist, any ad
hoc extensions, continuing resolutions or executive actions notwithstanding."
"(c) SCHEDULE FOR CHARTER REAUTHORIZATION.--Each organization shall be
authorized to continue operating once every ten years, except for the Shuttle
Flight Agency, which shall dissolve on January first, 1997."
"(1) The Feynman Institute shall be reauthorized in years which end in
the numeral one."
"(2) The Lewis Institute shall be reauthorized in years which end in
the numeral two."
"(3) The Goddard Institute shall be reauthorized in years which end in
the numeral three."
"(4) The Ames Institute shall be reauthorized in years which end in
the numeral four."
"(5) The Langley Institute shall be reauthorized in years which end in
the numeral five."
"(6) The Kennedy Institute shall be reauthorized in years which end in
the numeral six."
"(7) The Johnson Institute shall be reauthorized in years which end in
the numeral seven."
"(8) The Marshall Institute shall be reauthorized in years which end
in the numeral eight."
"(9) The Ministry shall be reauthorized in years which end in the
numeral nine."
"(10) The Stennis Space Reseach Institute shall be reauthorized in
years which end in the numeral zero."

SEC. 1003. INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION REMEDIATION.
(a) PROGRAMMATIC TRIAGE FOR THE SPACE STATION.--The Space Station
Freedom project is irrevokably terminated as of the date this Act enters into
law.
(b) REMEDIATING LOYAL ALLIES.--The projected future budget for the
Freedom Space Station is authorized to be used to back space goods and
services vouchers which shall be emitted in fixed dollar denominations, and
given to the international partners in proportion to their investment to date
in collaborative efforts related to Space Station Freedom.
(1) The recipients may use these vouchers to purchase space goods and
services from any United States commercial provider.
(2) These vouchers shall be negotiable instruments.
(3) These vouchers may be paid to United States commercial providers
by any bearer in return for space goods and services,
(4) The United States shall redeem any such voucher paid to any United
States commercial provider for space goods and services in cash within 30 days
of its presentation to the United States Treasury.

SEC. 1004. EARTH OBSERVING VOUCHERS.
The Earth Observing System program is irrevokably terminated as of the
date this Act enters into law. The currently authorized and appropriated
budget shall be reprogrammed into support for earth observation based
research, and space goods and services vouchers to be used by scientists to
purchase appropriate data from commercial providers.

SEC. 1005. VOUCHERS FOR SPACE SCIENCE REMEDIATION.
(a) REMEDIATING FAITHFUL SCIENTISTS.--Every space scientist and space
researcher whose program was cancelled between 1978 and 1991 as a direct or
indirect result of difficulties with the Space Shuttle program shall be issued
space goods and services vouchers in an amount equal to the constant dollar
cost which had been spent sponsoring their lost efforts.
(1) The recipients may use these vouchers to purchase space goods and
services from any United States commercial provider.
(2) These vouchers shall be negotiable instruments.
(3) These vouchers may be paid to United States commercial providers
by any bearer in return for space goods and services,
(4) The United States shall redeem any such voucher paid to any United
States commercial provider for space goods and services in cash within 30 days
of its presentation to the United States Treasury.
(5) These vouchers shall not be considered as support for current
research and shall not be used as an excuse to increase or decrease the
funding any researcher or institution would otherwise receive.
(b) TRIAGE FOR SPACE SCIENCE.--In addition, negotiable, bearer,
space goods and services vouchers shall be distributed annually among the
space science community to support the exploration of the solar system. An
annual amount of up to $500M is authorized for this purpose and shall not
offset any other form of support this community normally receives.

SEC. 1006. ESTABLISHMENT OF A MICROGRAVITY RESEARCH INITIATIVE.
Five percent of NASA's budget shall be set aside annually for
transferable space goods and services vouchers, primarily intended to fund
sounding rocket and orbital microgravity materials processing research. One
or more of these vouchers shall be given along with the requested funding for
each unsolicited proposal for basic or applied research in microgravity
materials processing which is selected for funding on the basis of external
peer review. NASA employees, and contractors who spend more than one third
of their time at NASA facilities are not eligible to receive these vouchers.
These vouchers are redeemable by commercial providers as described in
subsection 904 (a) 4.

SEC. 1007. Relation of Military Personnel and Civil Service.
(a) NO MILITARY INVOLVEMENT IN CIVILIAN SPACE.--No military personnel
shall be involved in the civilian space effort. Any military personnel so
involved as of the date of passage of this act shall be given the opportunity
to transfer to the civilian entity in question - including the right of
uniformed armed services personnel to transfer into the civil service at a
grade commensurate with their rank - within six months of the date this act
enters into law.
(b) NO CIVIL INVOLVEMENT IN MILITARY SPACE.--No civil servants employed
by agencies engaged in civilian space work shall be involved in the military
space effort. Any civil servants so involved shall be given the opportunity
to transfer to an agency involved in military space activities within six
months of the date this act enters into law.

SEC. 1008. Classified Material and Aerospace Activities.
(a) NO SECRECY IN CIVIL SPACE.--No federal agency involved in civilian
space activities shall keep or generate security classified or restricted
distribution material or proprietary material related to it, nor shall
material be kept at sites or facilities used for civilian space activities,
nor shall any civil servant or contractor engaged in civilian space activities
require a department of defense or department of energy or any other federal
security clearance.
(b) CONFIDENTIALITY FOR PERSONAL AND COMMERCIAL INFORMATION.-- the
exceptions to this shall be that priveledged personal, legal or medical
information concerning job performance may be kept confidential, and that
proprietary material relating to trade secrets, potential patents, actual
costs of doing business, and other business information of commercial value
not usually disclosed may be held confidential by civilian space contractors
provided it is held confidential from both the federal government and their
commercial competitors.
(c) NO EXCEPTION FOR MATERIALS RESEARCH.--Any aeronautical or
aerospace materials related research, applied research, or exploratory
development contracted for or performed by an agency involved in civilian
space shall be in conformance with section (a) above.
(d) INTERNATIONAL VISITORS WELCOME.--All civilian space facilities
shall be open to foreign nationals on the same basis that they are open to
United States citizens and nationals.
(e) INTERNATIONAL INTEREST WELCOME.--All requests for information from
civilian space facilities from foreign nationals shall be treated on the same
basis as requests from U. S. citizens or nationals.

(to be continued)

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