CHAPTER 711—NEAR-EARTH OBJECTS

        

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Planetary Defense Coordination Office

Pub. L. 117–167, div. B, title VII, §10825, Aug. 9, 2022, 136 Stat. 1744, provided that:

"(a) Findings.—Congress makes the following findings:

"(1) Near-Earth objects remain a threat to the United States.

"(2) Section 321(d)(1) of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–155; 119 Stat. 2922; 51 U.S.C. 71101 note prec.) [set out below], established a requirement that the Administrator [of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration] plan, develop, and implement a Near-Earth Object Survey program to detect, track, catalogue, and characterize the physical characteristics of near-Earth objects equal to, or greater than, 140 meters in diameter in order to assess the threat of such near-Earth objects to the Earth, with the goal of 90 percent completion of the catalogue of such near-Earth objects by December 30, 2020.

"(3) The goal described in paragraph (2) has not be met.

"(4) The report of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine entitled 'Finding Hazardous Asteroids Using Infrared and Visible Wavelength Telescopes', issued in 2019, states that—

"(A) NASA [National Aeronautics and Space Administration] should develop and launch a dedicated space-based infrared survey telescope to meet the requirements of section 321(d)(1) of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–155; 119 Stat. 2922; 51 U.S.C. 71101 note prec.); and

"(B) the early detection of potentially hazardous near-Earth objects enabled by a space-based infrared survey telescope is important to enable deflection of a dangerous asteroid.

"(b) Maintenance of Planetary Defense Coordination Office.—The Administrator shall maintain an office within the Planetary Science Division of the Science Mission Directorate, to be known as the 'Planetary Defense Coordination Office'—

"(1) to plan, develop, and implement a program to survey threats posed by near-Earth objects equal to or greater than 140 meters in diameter, as required by section 321(d)(1) of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–155; 119 Stat. 2922; 51 U.S.C. 71101 note prec.);

"(2) identify, track, and characterize potentially hazardous near-Earth objects, issue warnings of the effects of potential impacts of such objects, and investigate strategies and technologies for mitigating the potential impacts of such objects; and

"(3) assist in coordinating government planning for response to a potential impact of a near-Earth object.

"(c) Dedicated Survey Mission.—

"(1) Sense of congress.—It is the sense of Congress that—

"(A) the Near-Earth Object Surveyor mission, as designed, is anticipated to make significant progress toward carrying out congressional policy and direction, as set forth in section 321(d)(1) of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–155; 119 Stat. 2922; 51 U.S.C. 71101 note prec.), to detect 90 percent of near-Earth objects equal to, or greater than, 140 meters in diameter; and

"(B) the Administrator should prioritize the public safety role of the Near-Earth Object Surveyor mission and should not delay the development and launch of the mission due to cost growth on other planetary science missions.

"(2) Continuation of mission.—

"(A) In general.—The Administrator shall continue the development of a dedicated space-based infrared survey telescope mission, known as the 'Near-Earth Object Surveyor', on a schedule to achieve a launch-readiness date not later than March 30, 2026, or the earliest practicable date, for the purpose of accomplishing the objectives set forth in section 321(d)(1) of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–155; 119 Stat. 2922; 51 U.S.C. 71101 note prec.).

"(B) Consideration of recommendations.—The design of the mission described in subparagraph (A) shall take into account the recommendations of the 2019 report of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine entitled 'Finding Hazardous Asteroids Using Infrared and Visible Wavelength Telescopes', the planetary science decadal survey, and the 2018 United States National Near-Earth Object Preparedness Strategy and Action Plan.

"(d) Annual Report.—[Amended section 321(f) of Pub. L. 109–155, set out below.]

"(e) Near-earth Object Defined.—In this section, the term 'near-Earth object' has the meaning given the term in section 321(c) of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–155; 119 Stat. 2922; 51 U.S.C. 71101 note prec.)."

George E. Brown, Jr. Near-Earth Object Survey

Pub. L. 109–155, title III, §321, Dec. 30, 2005, 119 Stat. 2922, as amended by Pub. L. 115–10, title V, §511, Mar. 21, 2017, 131 Stat. 51; Pub. L. 117–167, div. B, title VII, §10825(d), Aug. 9, 2022, 136 Stat. 1745, provided that:

"(a) Short Title.—This section may be cited as the 'George E. Brown, Jr. Near-Earth Object Survey Act'.

"(b) Findings.—The Congress makes the following findings:

"(1) Near-Earth objects pose a serious and credible threat to humankind, as many scientists believe that a major asteroid or comet was responsible for the mass extinction of the majority of the Earth's species, including the dinosaurs, nearly 65,000,000 years ago.

"(2) Similar objects have struck the Earth or passed through the Earth's atmosphere several times in the Earth's history and pose a similar threat in the future.

"(3) Several such near-Earth objects have only been discovered within days of the objects' closest approach to Earth, and recent discoveries of such large objects indicate that many large near-Earth objects remain undiscovered.

"(4) The efforts taken to date by NASA [National Aeronautics and Space Administration] for detecting and characterizing the hazards of near-Earth objects are not sufficient to fully determine the threat posed by such objects to cause widespread destruction and loss of life.

"(c) Definitions.—For purposes of this section the term 'near-Earth object' means an asteroid or comet with a perihelion distance of less than 1.3 Astronomical Units from the Sun.

"(d) Near-Earth Object Survey.—

"(1) Survey program.—The Administrator [of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration] shall plan, develop, and implement a Near-Earth Object Survey program to detect, track, catalogue, and characterize the physical characteristics of near-Earth objects equal to or greater than 140 meters in diameter in order to assess the threat of such near-Earth objects to the Earth. It shall be the goal of the Survey program to achieve 90 percent completion of its near-Earth object catalogue (based on statistically predicted populations of near-Earth objects) within 15 years after the date of enactment of this Act [Dec. 30, 2005].

"(2) [Amended former section 2451 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare.]

"(3) Fifth-year report.—The Administrator shall transmit to the Congress, not later than February 28 of the fifth year after the date of enactment of this Act, a report that provides the following:

"(A) A summary of all activities taken pursuant to paragraph (1) since the date of enactment of this Act.

"(B) A summary of expenditures for all activities pursuant to paragraph (1) since the date of enactment of this Act.

"(4) Initial report.—The Administrator shall transmit to Congress not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act an initial report that provides the following:

"(A) An analysis of possible alternatives that NASA may employ to carry out the Survey program, including ground-based and space-based alternatives with technical descriptions.

"(B) A recommended option and proposed budget to carry out the Survey program pursuant to the recommended option.

"(C) Analysis of possible alternatives that NASA could employ to divert an object on a likely collision course with Earth.

"(e) Program Report.—The Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Administrator shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives, not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Transition Authorization Act of 2017 [Mar. 21, 2017], an initial report that provides—

"(1) recommendations for carrying out the Survey program and an associated proposed budget;

"(2) an analysis of possible options that the Administration could employ to divert an object on a likely collision course with Earth; and

"(3) a description of the status of efforts to coordinate and cooperate with other countries to discover hazardous asteroids and comets, plan a mitigation strategy, and implement that strategy in the event of the discovery of an object on a likely collision course with Earth.

"(f) Annual Report.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2022 [Aug. 9, 2022] and annually thereafter through 90-percent completion of the catalogue required by subsection (d)(1), the Administrator shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives a report that includes the following:

"(1) A summary of all activities carried out by the Planetary Defense Coordination Office established under section 10825 of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2022 [Pub. L. 117–167, set out above] since the date of enactment of that Act.

"(2) A description of the progress with respect to the design, development, and launch of the space-based infrared survey telescope required by section 10825(c) of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2022.

"(3) An assessment of the progress toward meeting the requirements under subsection (d)(1).

"(4) A description of the status of efforts to coordinate and cooperate with other countries to detect hazardous asteroids and comets, plan a mitigation strategy, and implement that strategy in the event of the discovery of an object on a likely collision course with Earth.

"(5) A summary of expenditures for all activities carried out by the Planetary Defense Coordination Office since the date of enactment of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2022[.]

"(g) Assessment.—The Administrator, in collaboration with other relevant Federal agencies, shall carry out a technical and scientific assessment of the capabilities and resources—

"(1) to accelerate the survey described in subsection (d); and

"(2) to expand the Administration's Near-Earth Object Program to include the detection, tracking, cataloguing, and characterization of potentially hazardous near-Earth objects less than 140 meters in diameter.

"(h) Transmittal.—Not later than 270 days after the date of enactment of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Transition Authorization Act of 2017, the Administrator shall transmit the results of the assessment under subsection (g) to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives."

§71101. Reaffirmation of policy

Congress reaffirms the policy set forth in section 20102(g) of this title (relating to surveying near-Earth asteroids and comets).

(Pub. L. 111–314, §3, Dec. 18, 2010, 124 Stat. 3439.)

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised Section	Source (U.S. Code)	Source (Statutes at Large)
71101	42 U.S.C. 17791(a).	Pub. L. 110–422, title VIII, §801(a), Oct. 15, 2008, 122 Stat. 4803.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Findings

Pub. L. 110–422, title VIII, §802, Oct. 15, 2008, 122 Stat. 4803, provided that: "Congress makes the following findings:

"(1) Near-Earth objects pose a serious and credible threat to humankind, as many scientists believe that a major asteroid or comet was responsible for the mass extinction of the majority of the Earth's species, including the dinosaurs, nearly 65,000,000 years ago.

"(2) Several such near-Earth objects have only been discovered within days of the objects' closest approach to Earth and recent discoveries of such large objects indicate that many large near-Earth objects remain undiscovered.

"(3) Asteroid and comet collisions rank as one of the most costly natural disasters that can occur.

"(4) The time needed to eliminate or mitigate the threat of a collision of a potentially hazardous near-Earth object with Earth is measured in decades.

"(5) Unlike earthquakes and hurricanes, asteroids and comets can provide adequate collision information, enabling the United States to include both asteroid-collision and comet-collision disaster recovery and disaster avoidance in its public-safety structure.

"(6) Basic information is needed for technical and policy decisionmaking for the United States to create a comprehensive program in order to be ready to eliminate and mitigate the serious and credible threats to humankind posed by potentially hazardous near-Earth asteroids and comets.

"(7) As a first step to eliminate and to mitigate the risk of such collisions, situation and decision analysis processes, as well as procedures and system resources, must be in place well before a collision threat becomes known."

§71102. Requests for information

The Administrator shall issue requests for information on—

(1) a low-cost space mission with the purpose of rendezvousing with, attaching a tracking device,¹ and characterizing the Apophis asteroid; and

(2) a medium-sized space mission with the purpose of detecting near-Earth objects equal to or greater than 140 meters in diameter.

(Pub. L. 111–314, §3, Dec. 18, 2010, 124 Stat. 3439.)

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised Section	Source (U.S. Code)	Source (Statutes at Large)
71102	42 U.S.C. 17793.	Pub. L. 110–422, title VIII, §803, Oct. 15, 2008, 122 Stat. 4803.

¹ So in original. The comma probably should be preceded by "to".

§71103. Developing policy and recommending responsible Federal agency

Within 2 years after October 15, 2008, the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy shall—

(1) develop a policy for notifying Federal agencies and relevant emergency response institutions of an impending near-Earth object threat, if near-term public safety is at risk; and

(2) recommend a Federal agency or agencies to be responsible for—

(A) protecting the United States from a near-Earth object that is expected to collide with Earth; and

(B) implementing a deflection campaign, in consultation with international bodies, should one be necessary.

(Pub. L. 111–314, §3, Dec. 18, 2010, 124 Stat. 3439.)

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised Section	Source (U.S. Code)	Source (Statutes at Large)
71103	42 U.S.C. 17794.	Pub. L. 110–422, title VIII, §804, Oct. 15, 2008, 122 Stat. 4804.

In the matter before paragraph (1), the date "October 15, 2008" is substituted for "the date of enactment of this Act" to reflect the date of enactment of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2008.

§71104. Planetary radar

The Administrator shall maintain a planetary radar that is comparable to the capability provided through the Deep Space Network Goldstone facility of the Administration.

(Pub. L. 111–314, §3, Dec. 18, 2010, 124 Stat. 3439.)

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised Section	Source (U.S. Code)	Source (Statutes at Large)
71104	42 U.S.C. 17795.	Pub. L. 110–422, title VIII, §805, Oct. 15, 2008, 122 Stat. 4804.