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108th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1855
To authorize the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration to establish an awards program in honor of Charles
``Pete'' Conrad, astronaut and space scientist, for recognizing the
discoveries made by amateur astronomers of asteroids with near-Earth
orbit trajectories.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
November 12, 2003
Mr. Allen introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration to establish an awards program in honor of Charles
``Pete'' Conrad, astronaut and space scientist, for recognizing the
discoveries made by amateur astronomers of asteroids with near-Earth
orbit trajectories.
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 ``Charles `Pete' Conrad Astronomy
Awards Act''.
SEC. 2. PETE CONRAD ASTRONOMY AWARD PROGRAM.
(a) Program Authorized.--The Administrator of the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (hereafter referred to as the
``Administrator'') is authorized to establish the Charles ``Pete''
Conrad Astronomy Awards Program. The Administrator is authorized to
contract with the Minor Planet Center of the Smithsonian Astrophysical
Observatory (hereafter referred to as the ``Minor Planet Center'') to
administer the program.
(b) Purpose.--The purpose of the program authorized by subsection
(a) shall be to award outstanding amateur astronomers who make asteroid
discoveries and to augment asteroid discovery efforts by the
Government.
(c) Award Categories.--The award program authorized under
subsection (a) shall consist of 3 categories of awards as follows:
(1) First category.--An award in the first category shall
be presented annually to the amateur astronomer who, using
amateur equipment only, discovers the largest absolute
magnitude new asteroid having a near-Earth orbit during the
preceding calendar year.
(2) Second category.--An award in the second category shall
be presented annually to an amateur astronomer for pre-
discovery and recovery efforts, including--
(A) the discovery of asteroids by an amateur as a
result of information produced by professional
telescopes or as a result of the amateur's use of time
on professional equipment; and
(B) efforts to locate newly discovered asteroids
using old images and already discovered near-Earth
orbit asteroids that have been ``lost''.
(3) Third category.--An award in the third category shall
be presented annually to the amateur astronomer, or
professional not funded for optical astronomy, who provides the
greatest service to update the minor planet catalogue. Eligible
discoveries may be made by visual, photographic, or electronic
means.
(d) Guidelines for Awarding Prizes.--General guidelines for the
awarding of prizes are as follows:
(1) Prizes shall be awarded to the person or group with the
greatest contributions as determined by the Minor Planet Center
for the second and third categories.
(2) The award in the first category shall not be presented
for years in which there are no eligible asteroid discoveries.
(3) All awards are reserved for United States citizens.
(4) The decisions of the Minor Planet Center in
administering the award program are final.
(e) Eligibility.--Individuals are eligible to apply for the awards
authorized under this section if the following conditions are
satisfied:
(1) All applicants must demonstrate that they are not
funded to use professional telescopes or observations and are
acting solely in an amateur capacity.
(2) Government and professional astronomers associated with
the near-Earth orbit asteroid project, as well as members of
their immediate families, are not eligible for the awards.
(f) Regulations.--The Administrator or the Minor Planet Center may
prescribe such regulations as may be necessary to implement the program
authorized by this section.
(g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated $10,000 for each of fiscal years 2004 and 2005 to carry
out this Act.
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