§30902 Charles “Pete” Conrad Astronomy Awards

Summary

Creates the Charles “Pete” Conrad Astronomy Awards Program. The Administrator must set up the program and make awards using recommendations from the Minor Planet Center. Each year the Administrator will give one $3,000 award in each of two categories, unless there are no eligible candidates: (1) the amateur or group of amateurs who discovered the intrinsically brightest near‑Earth asteroid found by amateurs that year, and (2) the amateur or group that made the greatest contribution to the Minor Planet Center’s cataloguing of near‑Earth asteroids that year. Winners must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents when their discovery or contribution was made, and the Administrator’s decisions are final. Defined terms: “amateur astronomer” — an individual not paid by their employer for observing asteroids and not a professional astronomer. “Minor Planet Center” — the Minor Planet Center of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. “near‑Earth asteroid” — an asteroid with perihelion under 1.3 Astronomical Units. “Program” — the Charles “Pete” Conrad Astronomy Awards Program.