Sec. 2640. Planetary Defense Coordination Office
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Congress makes the following findings: Near-Earth objects remain a threat to the United States. 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.) established a requirement that the Administrator 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.
The current planetary defense strategy of NASA acknowledges that such goal will not be met. 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— NASA cannot accomplish such goal with currently available assets; NASA 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 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.
Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this division, the Administrator shall establish an office within the Planetary Science Division of the Science Mission Directorate, to be known as the Planetary Defense Coordination Office , 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.).
The Administrator shall— develop and, not later than September 30, 2025, launch a space-based infrared survey telescope that is capable of detecting near-Earth objects equal to or greater than 140 meters in diameter, with preference given to planetary missions selected by the Administrator as of the date of the enactment of this division to pursue concept design studies relating to the development of a space-based infrared survey telescope; identify, track, and characterize potentially hazardous near-Earth objects and issue warnings of the effects of potential impacts of such objects; and assist in coordinating Government planning for response to a potential impact of a near-Earth object.
Section 321(f) 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.) is amended to read as follows: Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2021 , 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:
A summary of all activities carried out by the Planetary Defense Coordination Office established under section 2640(b)(1) of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2021 since the date of enactment of that Act. A description of the progress with respect to the design, development, and launch of the space-based infrared survey telescope required by section 2640 (b)(2)(A) of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2021 .
An assessment of the progress toward meeting the requirements of subsection (d)(1). A description of the status of efforts to coordinate planetary defense activities in response to a threat posed by a near-Earth object with other Federal agencies since the date of enactment of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2021 . 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.
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 2021 . . None of the amounts authorized to be appropriated by this subtitle for a fiscal year may be obligated or expended for the Office of the Administrator during the last 3 months of that fiscal year unless the Administrator submits the report for that fiscal year required by section 321(f) 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.).
In 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.
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- Pub. L. 109-155
- 119 Stat. 2922
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Sec. 2640
Planetary Defense Coordination Office
Pub. L.Pub. L. 109-155
Stat.119 Stat. 2922
Cites 3Cited by 0 across 0 sources