12 2 STA T .4793PUBLIC LA W 11 0– 422 —O CT. 1 5, 200 8(b)REPORT.—Thepland e v el o ped u nde rs ubse cti on (a) shall be trans m itted to C on g ress not later than 270 da y sa f ter the date of enactment of this A ct. SEC.507 . A SSESS M E NTOFI M P E D IMENTS TO INTE R A G ENC Y COOPERA - TION ON SPACE AND EART H SCIENCE MISSIONS. (a) A S SESS M E N TS.—The Administrator , in consultation w ith other agencies with space science programs, shall enter into an arrangement with the N ational Academies to assess impediments, including cost growth, to the successful conduct of interagency cooperation on space science missions, to provide lessons learned and best practices, and to recommend steps to help facilitate successful interagency collaborations on space science missions. As part of the same arrangement with the National Academies, the Administrator, in consultation with N O AA and other agencies with civil E arth observation systems, shall have the National Academies assess impediments, including cost growth, to the successful conduct of interagency cooperation on Earth science missions, to provide lessons learned and best practices, and to recommend steps to help facilitate successful interagency collaborations on Earth science missions. (b) REPORT.—The report of the assessments carried out under subsection (a) shall be transmitted to the Committee on S cience and Technology of the H ouse of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate not later than 15 months after the date of enactment of this Act. SEC. 50 8 . ASSESSMENT OF COST GRO W TH. (a) ST UDY .—The Administrator shall enter into an arrangement for an independent e x ternal assessment to identify the primary causes of cost growth in the large - , medium-, and small-si z ed space and Earth science spacecraft mission classes, and ma k e rec- ommendations as to what changes, if any, should be made to contain costs and ensure fre q uent mission opportunities in NASA ’ s science spacecraft mission programs. (b) REPORT.—The report of the assessment conducted under subsection (a) shall be submitted to Congress not later than 15 months after the date of enactment of this Act. SEC. 50 9 .O U TER P L ANETS E X PLORATION. I t is the sense of Congress that the outer solar system planets and their satellites can offer important knowledge about the forma- tion and evolution of the solar system, the nature and diversity of these solar system bodies, and the potential for conditions condu- cive to life beyond Earth. NASA should move forward with plans for an Outer P lanets flagship mission to the Europa- J upiter system or the Titan-Saturn system as soon as practicable within a balanced Planetary Science program. TI T LEV I —SPAC E O PE R ATIO N S S ubti t le A—I n te r n a ti o nal S p a c e Station SEC. 6 0 1 . PLAN TO SUPPORT OPERATION AND UTILI Z ATION OF THE ISS B EYOND FISCAL YEAR 2 015. (a) IN G ENER AL .—The Administrator shall take all necessary steps to ensure that the International Space Station remains a 42USC17 7 5 1 .Recom me nda-ti on s .
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