Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 124.djvu/2858

 124 STAT. 2832 PUBLIC LAW 111–267—OCT. 11, 2010 TITLE VIII—SPACE SCIENCE SEC. 801. TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT. The Administrator shall ensure that the Science Mission Direc- torate maintains a long term technology development program for space and Earth science. This effort should be coordinated with an overall Agency technology investment approach, as authorized in section 905 of this Act. SEC. 802. SUBORBITAL RESEARCH ACTIVITIES. (a) IN GENERAL.—The report of the National Academy of Sciences, Revitalizing NASA’s Suborbital Program: Advancing Science, Driving Innovation and Developing Workforce, found that suborbital science missions were absolutely critical to building an aerospace workforce capable of meeting the needs of current and future human and robotic space exploration. (b) MANAGEMENT.—The Administrator shall designate an officer or employee of the Science Mission Directorate to act as the respon- sible official for all Suborbital Research in the Science Mission Directorate. The designee shall be responsible for the development of short- and long term strategic plans for maintaining, renewing and extending suborbital facilities and capabilities, monitoring progress towards goals in the plans, and be responsible for integra- tion of suborbital activities and workforce development within the agency, thereby ensuring the long term recognition of their com- bined value to the directorate, to NASA, and to the Nation. (c) ESTABLISHMENT OF SUBORBITAL RESEARCH PROGRAM.—The Administrator shall establish a Suborbital Research Program within the Science Mission Directorate that shall include the use of sounding rockets, aircraft, high altitude balloons, suborbital reusable launch vehicles, and commercial launch vehicles to advance science and train the next generation of scientists and engineers in systems engineering and systems integration which are vital to maintaining critical skills in the aerospace workforce. The pro- gram shall integrate existing suborbital research programs with orbital missions at the discretion of the designated officer or employee and shall emphasize the participation of undergraduate and graduate students and post-doctoral researchers when formu- lating announcements of opportunity. (d) REPORT.—The Administrator shall report to the appropriate committees of Congress on the number and type of suborbital mis- sions conducted in each fiscal year and the number of under- graduate and graduate students participating in the missions. The report shall be made annually for each fiscal year under this section. (e) AUTHORIZATION.—There are authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section. SEC. 803. OVERALL SCIENCE PORTFOLIO-SENSE OF THE CONGRESS. Congress reaffirms its sense that a balanced and adequately funded set of activities, consisting of research and analysis grants programs, technology development, small, medium, and large space missions, and suborbital research activities, contributes to a robust and productive science program and serves as a catalyst for innova- tion. Designation. 42 USC 18382. 42 USC 18381.