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Week Ending August 3, 2007

H.R.2750 To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

To commemorate the 50^th anniversary of  the establishment of NASA and the Jet Propulsion Lab, the Secretary of Treasury is directed to mint a $50 gold coin and a $1 silver coin. The gold coin will have a surcharge of $50 and the silver a surcharge of $10.00.

Up to 50,000 $50 gold coins may be minted containing one troy ounce of gold. Up to 300,000 silver coins may be minted containing 90% silver and 10% copper. The gold coins will have one image. The silver coins will be minted with 9 designs each depicting one of the nine planets in the solar system. All coins will be minted in proof quality.

The coins shall be emblematic of the 50 years of exemplary and unparalleled achievements of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Commemorative coins may not be financed by taxpayer dollars thus the surcharges. The first $4 million after cost of minting and distributing will be donated to the NASA Family Assistance Fund for the purposes of providing need-based financial assistance to the families of NASA personnel who die as a result of injuries suffered in the performance of their official duties. The next $500,000 will go to the Dr. Ronald E. McNair Educational Science Literacy Foundation to improve science and math teaching and the next $500,000 will go to the Dorothy Jamison Foundation for Excellence. Remaining sums will go the Smithsonian to preserve and maintain space artifacts.

Sponsor:  Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX-18^th)

Vote: Passed House 402 to 0 RC 788 July 31, 2007

Cost to the taxpayers: No discernible cost

Earmark Certification: Not applicable to the bill. 

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MORE INFORMATION

The Congress finds as follows:

(1) The National Aeronautics and Space Administration began operation on October 1, 1958, with about 8,000 employees and an annual budget of $100,000,000.

(2) Over the next 50 years, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory have been involved in many defining events which have shaped the course of human history and demonstrated to the world the character of the people of the United States.

(3) Among the many firsts by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration are the following:

(A) On December 6, 1958, the United States launched Pioneer 3, the first United States satellite to ascend to an altitude of 63,580 miles.

(B) On March 3, 1959, the United States sent Pioneer 4 to the Moon, successfully making the first United States lunar flyby.

(C) On April 1, 1960, the United States launched TIROS 1, the first successful meteorological satellite, observing Earth's weather.

(D) On May 5, 1961, Freedom 7, carrying Astronaut Alan B. Shepard, Jr., was the first American space flight involving human beings.

(E) On February 20, 1962, John Glenn became the first American to circle the Earth, making three orbits in his Friendship 7 Mercury spacecraft.

(F) On December 14, 1962, Mariner 2 became the first spacecraft to commit a successful planetary flyby (Venus).

(G) On April 6, 1965, the United States launched Intelsat I, the first commercial satellite (communications), into geostationary orbit.

(H) On June 3-7, 1965, the second piloted Gemini mission, Gemini IV, stayed aloft for 4 days and astronaut Edward H. White II performed the first EVA or spacewalk by an American.

(I) On June 2, 1966, Surveyor 1 became the first American spacecraft to soft-land on the Moon.

(J) On November 13, 1971, the United States launched Mariner 9, the first mission to orbit another planet (Mars).

(K) On April 12, 1981, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration launched the Space Shuttle Columbia on the first flight of the Space Transportation System (STS-1).

(L) On June 18-24, 1983, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration launched Space Shuttle Challenger (STS-7) carrying 3 mission specialists, including Sally K. Ride, the first woman astronaut.

(M) In another historic mission, 2 months later the National Aeronautics and Space Administration launched STS-8 carrying the first black American astronaut, Guion S. Bluford.

(N) On July 22, 1999, the Space Shuttle Columbia's 26th flight was led by Air Force Col. Eileen Collins, the first woman to command a Shuttle mission.

(4) On April 9, 1959, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration unveiled the Mercury astronaut corps, 7 men with `the right stuff': John H. Glenn, Jr., Walter M. Schirra, Jr., Alan B. Shepard, Jr., M. Scott Carpenter, L. Gordon Cooper, Virgil I. `Gus' Grissom, and Donald K. `Deke' Slayton.

(5) On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy, reflecting the highest aspirations of the American people, proclaimed: `I believe this Nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important in the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.'

(6) On September 19, 1961, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration announced that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration center dedicated to human space flight would be built in Houston, Texas.

(7) In 1973, the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston was renamed the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center.

(8) On December 21, 1968, Apollo 8 took off atop a Saturn V booster from the Kennedy Space Center for a historic mission to orbit the Moon.

(9) As Apollo 8 traveled outward, the crew focused a portable television camera on Earth and for the first time humanity saw its home from afar, a tiny, lovely, and fragile `blue marble' hanging in the blackness of space.

(10) This transmission and viewing of Earth from a distance was an enormously significant accomplishment and united the Nation at a time when American society was in crisis over Vietnam, race relations, urban problems, and a host of other difficulties.

(11) On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 astronauts Neil A. Armstrong and Edwin E. Aldrin made the first lunar landing mission while Michael Collins orbited overhead in the Apollo command module.

(12) Armstrong set foot on the surface, telling the millions of listeners that it was `one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind'; Aldrin soon followed and planted an American flag, but omitted claiming the land for the United States as had routinely been done during European exploration of the Americas.

(13) The 2 Moon walkers left behind an American flag and a plaque bearing the inscription: `Here Men From Planet Earth First Set Foot Upon the Moon. Jul. 1969 A.D. We Came in Peace for All Mankind.'

(14) On July 4, 1997, the Mars Pathfinder landed on Mars and on January 29, 1998, an International Space Station agreement among 15 countries met in Washington, DC, to sign agreements to establish the framework for cooperation among the partners on the design, development, operation, and utilization of the Space Station.

(15) The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's stunning achievements over the last 50 years have been won for all mankind at great cost and sacrifice; in the quest to explore the universe, many National Aeronautics and Space Administration employees have lost their lives, including the crews of Apollo 6, the Space Shuttle Challenger, and the Space Shuttle Columbia.

(16) The United States should pay tribute to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory by minting and issuing a commemorative silver dollar coin.

(17) The surcharge proceeds from the sale of a commemorative coin would generate valuable funding for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Families Assistance Fund for the purposes of providing need-based financial assistance to the families of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration personnel who die as a result of injuries suffered in the performance of their official duties.

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