,,ii #aafth ,,congress #ast ,session ,s4 #afid ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,may #bc 7legislative day1 ,may #bb71 #bjai,mr4 ,peters 7for himself and ,mr4 ,cruz7 introduced the following bill2 which was read twice and referred to the ,committee on ,commerce1 ,science1 and ,transportation ,a ,,bill ,to require any ,federal agency that issues licenses to conduct activities in outer space to include in the requirements for such licenses an agreement relating to the preservation and protection of the ,apollo #aa landing site1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,one ,small ,step to ,protect ,human ,heritage in ,space ,act4 #b4 ,findings2 sense of ,congress 7a7 ,findings ,congress makes the following findings3 7#a7 ,on ,july #af1 #aifi1 the ,apollo #aa spacecraft launched from the ,john ,f4 ,kennedy ,space ,center carrying ,neil ,a4 ,armstrong1 ,edwin ,e4 ,buzz ,aldrin1 ,jr41 and ,michael ,collins4 7#b7 ,july #bj1 #bjai1 will mark the #ejth anniversary of the date on which the ,apollo #aa spacecraft landed on the ,moon and ,neil ,armstrong and ,buzz ,aldrin became the first humans to set foot on a celestial body off the ,earth4 7#c7 ,the landing of the ,apollo #aa spacecraft and humanity's first off-world footprints are achievements unparalleled in history1 a direct product of the work and perseverance of the more than #djj1jjj individuals who contributed to the development of the ,apollo missions on the shoulders of centuries of science and engineering pioneers from all corners of the world4 7#d7 ,among the thousands of individuals who have contributed to the achievements of the ,national ,aeronautics and ,space ,administration 7in this section referred to as ,,nasa7 are ,african-,american women such as ,katherine ,johnson1 ,dorothy ,vaughn1 ,mary ,jackson1 and ,dr4 ,christine ,darden1 who made critical contributions to ,,nasa space programs4 ,katherine ,johnson worked at ,,nasa for #ce years and calculated the trajectory of the ,apollo #aa landing and the trajectories for the spaceflights of astronauts ,alan ,shepard and ,john ,glenn4 ,katherine ,johnson1 together with many other individuals the work of whom often went unacknowledged1 helped broaden the scope of space travel and charted new frontiers for humanity's exploration of space4 7#e7 ,the landing of the ,apollo #aa spacecraft was made on behalf of all humankind1 and ,neil ,armstrong and ,buzz ,aldrin were accompanied by messages of peace from the leaders of more than #gj countries4 7#f7 ,the lunar landing sites of the ,apollo #aa spacecraft1 the robotic spacecraft that preceded the ,apollo #aa mission1 and the crewed and robotic spacecraft that followed1 are of outstanding universal value to humanity4 7#g7 ,such landing sites-- 7,a7 are the first archaeological sites with human activity that are not on ,earth2 7,b7 provide evidence of the first achievements of humankind in the realm of space travel and exploration2 and 7,c7 contain artifacts and other evidence of human exploration activities that remain a potential source of cultural1 historical1 archaeological1 anthropological1 scientific1 and engineering knowledge4 7#h7 ,as commercial enterprises and more countries acquire the ability to land on the ,moon1 it is necessary to ensure the recognition and protection of the ,apollo #aa landing site and other historic landing sites together with all the human effort and innovation the sites represent4 7#i7 ,on ,july #bj1 #bjaa1 ,,nasa published the voluntary guidance entitled ,,nasa's ,recommendations to ,space-,faring ,entities3 ,how to ,protect and ,preserve the ,historic and ,scientific ,value of ,u4,s4 ,government ,lunar ,artifacts4 7#aj7 ,in ,march #bjah1 the ,office of ,science and ,technology ,policy published a report entitled ,protecting ,preserving ,apollo ,program ,lunar ,landing ,sites ,artifacts4 7#aa7 ,the ,apollo #aa landing site and other similar historic landing sites in outer space merit legal protection from inadvertent or intentional interference with such sites or the environment surrounding such sites in order to prevent irremediable loss of archaeological1 anthropological1 historical1 scientific1 and engineering significance and value4 7#ab7 ,space-faring entities based outside the ,united ,states have the capacity to land on the ,moon4 7#ac7 ,the licensing requirements under this ,act are applicable only to ,united ,states-based activities in outer space and therefore have limited efficacy for protecting against intentional or inadvertent disturbances of the ,apollo #aa landing site and other similar historic sites from space-faring entities based outside the ,united ,states4 7#ad7 ,a binding international agreement to protect the ,apollo #aa landing site and other similar historic sites by requiring adherence to the recommendations described in section #c7;b7 would be sufficient to protect against intentional or inadvertent disturbances of the ,apollo #aa landing site and other similar historic sites4 7b7 ,sense of ,congress ,it is the sense of ,congress that the ,president should initiate a diplomatic initiative to negotiate an international agreement described in subsection 7a77#ad74 #c4 ,licensing requirements concerning preservation of historic lunar landing sites 7a7 ,in general ,beginning not later than #ij days after the date of the enactment of this ,act1 any ,federal agency that issues a license to conduct an activity in outer space shall require each applicant for such a license-- 7#a7 to agree to abide by the recommendations described in subsection 7b72 or 7#b7 in the case of an activity that requires a license from more than one ,federal agency1 to certify 7as described in paragraph 7#a7 or 7#b71 as applicable1 of section #agdf of title #bh1 ,united ,states ,code7 that the applicant has submitted an application for a license for such activity to another ,federal agency that satisfies paragraph 7#a74 7b7 ,recommendations described ,the recommendations described in this subsection are-- 7#a7 ,,nasa's ,recommendations to ,space-,faring ,entities3 ,how to ,protect and ,preserve the ,historic and ,scientific ,value of ,u4,s4 ,government ,lunar ,artifacts issued by the ,national ,aeronautics and ,space ,administration on ,july #bj1 #bjaa2 7#b7 the updates to ,,nasa's ,recommendations to ,space-,faring ,entities3 ,how to ,protect and ,preserve the ,historic and ,scientific ,value of ,u4,s4 ,government ,lunar ,artifacts issued by the ,national ,aeronautics and ,space ,administration on ,october #bh1 #bjaa2 and 7#c7 any successor heritage preservation recommendations1 guidelines1 or principles relating to the protection and preservation of ,government lunar artifacts issued by the ,national ,aeronautics and ,space ,administration4 7c7 ,exemptions ,a ,federal agency issuing a license described in subsection 7a7 may1 in consultation with the ,administrator of the ,national ,aeronautics and ,space ,administration1 exempt specific activities of an applicant from the historic preservation agreement or certification under subsection 7a7 if such bona fide activities are determined to have legitimate and significant historical1 archeological1 anthropological1 scientific1 or engineering value4 7d7 ,authority ,to assess penalty fees 7#a7 ,in general ,a ,federal agency issuing a license described in subsection 7a7 may assess a penalty fee on the holder of such license for conduct that violates one or more of terms of the license relating to the agreement under subsection 7a77#a74 7#b7 ,amount ,the penalty fee amount assessed under paragraph 7#a7 shall be-- 7,a7 commensurate with the nature and extent of the violation2 and 7,b7 sufficient to deter future violations4 7e7 ,activity defined ,in this section1 the term activity means an action or endeavor in outer space that-- 7#a7 is intended to be lunar in nature1 including lunar orbit1 landing1 and impact2 or 7#b7 has a greater likelihood than not of becoming lunar in nature1 including unintentional orbit and impact4