§18354 Management of the ISS national laboratory

Summary

NASA must give startup money and sign an agreement with a tax-exempt nonprofit (a 501(c)(3)) to run the ISS national laboratory. The chosen nonprofit must build the ability to run research projects and manage the lab. It must work only on managing the ISS national laboratory and on activities that support its long-term research mission. NASA must name a person in the Space Operations Mission Directorate to be the official contact, and the nonprofit must work with that person. The startup money must cover planning, making rules and selection steps for non-NASA science in U.S. ISS modules or partner facilities set aside for U.S. use, working with the ISS National Laboratory Advisory Committee, arranging transport and return of experiments and samples, helping keep ground support facilities running, and running outreach and education programs. Experiments managed by the national laboratory must get at least 50 percent of U.S. research capacity (including power, cold storage, and crew time) on the ISS through September 30, 2030, with needed upmass and downmass. NASA can give more capacity if available. If NASA needs more than its share, the plan must go through the laboratory’s proposal process; until September 30, 2030 the NASA contact may allow exceptions for exploration-essential work. The nonprofit must consider the National Academies’ Decadal Survey when setting priorities. NASA keeps responsibility for payload integration and operations before, during, and after flight to ensure safety and readiness.