USC Chapter 409

in effect

51 U.S.C. § 1 SHORT TITLE.

“This Act may be cited as the ‘Inspiring the Next Space Pioneers, Innovators, Researchers, and Explorers (INSPIRE) Women Act’.

“The Congress finds that— “(1) NASA GIRLS and NASA BOYS are virtual mentoring programs using commercially available video chat programs to pair National Aeronautics and Space Administration mentors with young students anywhere in the country. NASA GIRLS and NASA BOYS give young students the opportunity to interact and learn from real engineers, scientists, and technologists. “(2) The Aspire to Inspire (A2I) program engages young girls to present science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) career opportunities through the real lives and jobs of early career women at NASA. “(3) The Summer Institute in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Research (SISTER) program at the Goddard Space Flight Center is designed to increase awareness of, and provide an opportunity for, female middle school students to be exposed to and explore nontraditional career fields with Goddard Space Flight Center women engineers, mathematicians, scientists, technicians, and researchers.

51 U.S.C. § 3 SUPPORTING WOMEN’S INVOLVEMENT IN THE FIELDS OF AEROSPACE AND SPACE EXPLORATION.

“The Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration shall encourage women and girls to study science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, pursue careers in aerospace, and further advance the Nation’s space science and exploration efforts through support of the following initiatives: “(1) NASA GIRLS and NASA BOYS. “(2) Aspire to Inspire. “(3) Summer Institute in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Research.

51 U.S.C. § 4 PLAN.

“Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act [Feb. 28, 2017], the Administrator shall submit 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 plan for how NASA can best facilitate and support both current and retired astronauts, scientists, engineers, and innovators, including early career female astronauts, scientists, engineers, and innovators, to engage with K–12 female STEM students and inspire the next generation of women to consider participating in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and to pursue careers in aerospace. This plan shall— “(1) report on existing activities with current and retired NASA astronauts, scientists, engineers, and innovators; “(2) identify how NASA could best leverage existing authorities to facilitate and support current and retired astronaut, scientist, engineer, and innovator participation in NASA outreach efforts; “(3) propose and describe a program specific to retired astronauts, scientists, engineers, and innovators; and “(4) identify any additional authorities necessary to institute such a program.”

51 U.S.C. § 40901 Science, Space, and Technology Education Trust Fund

There is appropriated, by transfer from funds appropriated in the Department of Housing and Urban Development—Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1989 (Public Law 100–404, 102 Stat. 1014), for “Construction of facilities”, the sum of $15,000,000 to the “Science, Space, and Technology Education Trust Fund”, which is hereby established in the Treasury of the United States. The Secretary of the Treasury shall invest these funds in the United States Treasury special issue securities, and interest shall be credited to the Trust Fund on a quarterly basis. Such interest shall be available for the purpose of making grants for programs directed at improving science, space, and technology education in the United States. The Administrator, after consultation with the Director of the National Science Foundation, shall review applications made for such grants and determine the distribution of available funds on a competitive basis. Grants shall be made available to any awardee only to the extent that the awardee provides matching funds from non-Federal sources to carry out the program for which grants from this Trust Fund are made. Of the funds made available by this Trust Fund, $250,000 shall be disbursed each calendar quarter to the Challenger Center for Space Science Education. The Administrator shall submit to Congress an annual report on the grants made pursuant to this section.

51 U.S.C. § 40902 National Aeronautics and Space Administration Endeavor Teacher Fellowship Trust Fund

(a) Establishment.—There is established in the Treasury of the United States, in tribute to the dedicated crew of the Space Shuttle Challenger, a trust fund to be known as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Endeavor Teacher Fellowship Trust Fund (hereafter in this section referred to as the “Trust Fund”). The Trust Fund shall consist of amounts which may from time to time, at the discretion of the Administrator, be transferred from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Gifts and Donations Trust Fund. (b) Investment of Trust Fund.—The Administrator shall direct the Secretary of the Treasury to invest and reinvest funds in the Trust Fund in public debt securities with maturities suitable for the needs of the Trust Fund, and bearing interest at rates determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, taking into consideration the current average market yield on outstanding marketable obligations of the United States of comparable maturities. Interest earned shall be credited to the Trust Fund. (c) Purpose.—Income accruing from the Trust Fund principal shall be used to create the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Endeavor Teacher Fellowship Program, to the extent provided in advance in appropriation Acts. The Administrator is authorized to use such funds to award fellowships to selected United States nationals who are undergraduate students pursuing a course of study leading to certified teaching degrees in elementary education or in secondary education in mathematics, science, or technology disciplines. Awards shall be made pursuant to standards established for the fellowship program by the Administrator. (d) Availability of Funds.—The interest accruing from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Endeavor Teacher Fellowship Trust Fund principal shall be available in fiscal year 2012 for the purpose of the Endeavor Science Teacher Certificate Program.

51 U.S.C. § 40903 Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research—merit grant competition requirements

(a) Definition of Eligible State.—In this section, the term “eligible State” means a State designated by the Administrator as eligible to compete in the National Science Foundation’s Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research. (b) Competition.—Making use of the existing infrastructure established in eligible States by the National Science Foundation, the Administrator shall conduct a merit grant competition among the eligible States in areas of research important to the mission of the Administration. With respect to a grant application by an eligible State, the Administrator shall consider—(1) the application’s merit and relevance to the mission of the Administration; (2) the potential for the grant to serve as a catalyst to enhance the ability of researchers in the State to become more competitive for regular Administration funding; (3) the potential for the grant to improve the environment for science, mathematics, and engineering education in the State; and (4) the need to ensure the maximum distribution of grants among eligible States, consistent with merit. (c) Supplemental Grants.—The Administrator shall endeavor, where appropriate, to supplement grants made under subsection (b) with such grants for fellowships, traineeships, equipment, or instrumentation as are available. (d) Information in Annual Budget Submission.—In order to ensure that research expertise and talent throughout the Nation is developed and engaged in Administration research and education activities, the Administration shall, as part of its annual budget submission, detail additional steps that can be taken to further integrate the participating eligible States in both existing and new or emerging Administration research programs and center activities.

51 U.S.C. § 40904 Microgravity research

The Administrator shall— (1) ensure the capacity to support ground-based research leading to space-based basic and applied scientific research in a variety of disciplines with potential direct national benefits and applications that can be advanced significantly from the uniqueness of microgravity and the space environment; and (2) carry out, to the maximum extent practicable, basic, applied, and commercial International Space Station research in fields such as molecular crystal growth, animal research, basic fluid physics, combustion research, cellular biotechnology, low-temperature physics, and cellular research at a level that will sustain the existing United States scientific expertise and research capability in microgravity research.

51 U.S.C. § 40905 Program to expand distance learning in rural underserved areas

(a) In General.—The Administrator shall develop or expand programs to extend science and space educational outreach to rural communities and schools through video conferencing, interpretive exhibits, teacher education, classroom presentations, and student field trips. (b) Priorities.—In carrying out subsection (a), the Administrator shall give priority to existing programs, including Challenger Learning Centers—(1) that utilize community-based partnerships in the field; (2) that build and maintain video conference and exhibit capacity; (3) that travel directly to rural communities and serve low-income populations; and (4) with a special emphasis on increasing the number of women and minorities in the science and engineering professions.

51 U.S.C. § 40906 Equal access to the Administration’s education programs

(a) In General.—The Administrator shall strive to ensure equal access for minority and economically disadvantaged students to the Administration’s education programs. (b) Report.—Every 2 years, the Administrator shall submit a report to the Committee on Science and Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate describing the efforts by the Administrator to ensure equal access for minority and economically disadvantaged students under this section and the results of such efforts. As part of the report, the Administrator shall provide—(1) data on minority participation in the Administration’s education programs, at a minimum in the categories of—(A) elementary and secondary education; (B) undergraduate education; and (C) graduate education; and (2) the total value of grants the Administration made to Historically Black Colleges and Universities and to Hispanic Serving Institutions through education programs during the period covered by the report. (c) Program.—The Administrator shall establish the Dr. Mae C. Jemison Grant Program to work with Minority Serving Institutions to bring more women of color into the field of space and aeronautics.

51 U.S.C. § 40907 Museums

The Administrator may provide grants to, and enter into cooperative agreements with, museums and planetariums to enable them to enhance programs related to space exploration, aeronautics, space science, Earth science, or microgravity.

51 U.S.C. § 40908 Continuation of certain education programs

From amounts appropriated to the Administration for education programs, the Administrator shall ensure the continuation of the Space Grant Program, the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, and, consistent with the results of the review under section 614 of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–155, 119 Stat. 2933), the Administration Explorer School program, to motivate and develop the next generation of explorers.

51 U.S.C. § 40909 Compliance with title IX of Education Amendments of 1972

To comply with title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), the Administrator shall conduct compliance reviews of at least 2 grantees annually.