Sec. 701. Asteroid Retrieval Mission

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Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall provide to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report on the proposed Asteroid Retrieval Mission. Such report shall include— a detailed budget profile, including cost estimates for the development of all necessary technologies and spacecraft required for the mission; a detailed technical plan that includes milestones and a specific schedule; a description of the technologies and capabilities anticipated to be gained from the proposed mission that will enable future human missions to Mars which could not be gained by lunar missions; a description of the technologies and capabilities anticipated to be gained from the proposed mission that will enable future planetary defense missions, against impact threats from near-Earth objects equal to or greater than 140 meters in diameter, which could not be gained by robotic missions; and a complete assessment by the Small Bodies Assessment Group and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Advisory Council of how the proposed mission is in the strategic interests of the United States in space exploration.

Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, an independent, private systems engineering and technical assistance organization contracted by the Human Exploration Operations Mission Directorate shall transmit to the Administrator, the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives, and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report analyzing the proposal for a Mars Flyby human spaceflight mission to be launched in 2021.

Such report shall include— a technical development, test, fielding, and operations plan using the Space Launch System and other systems to successfully mount a Mars Flyby mission by 2021; a description of the benefits in scientific knowledge and technologies demonstrated by a Mars Flyby mission to be launched in 2021 suitable for future Mars missions; and an annual budget profile, including cost estimates, for the development test, fielding, and operations plan to carry out a Mars Flyby mission through 2021 and comparison of that budget profile to the 5-year budget profile contained in the President’s Budget request for fiscal year 2015.

Not later than 60 days after transmittal of the report specified in subsection (b), the Administrator shall transmit to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate an assessment by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Advisory Council of whether the proposal for a Mars Flyby Mission to be launched in 2021 is in the strategic interests of the United States in space exploration.

The report transmitted under subsection

(b)may consider a crewed mission with the Space Launch System in cis-lunar space prior to the Mars Flyby mission in 2021.