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There is hereby established an Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel consisting of a maximum of nine members who shall be appointed by the Administrator for terms of six years each. The Panel shall review safety studies and operations plans referred to it, including evaluating NASA’s compliance with the return-to-flight and continue-to-fly recommendations of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board, and shall make reports thereon, shall advise the Administrator and the Congress with respect to the hazards of proposed or existing facilities and proposed operations with respect to the adequacy of proposed or existing safety standards, and with respect to management and culture related to safety. The Panel shall also perform such other duties as the Administrator may request. One member shall be designated by the Panel as its Chairman. Members of the Panel who are officers or employees of the Federal Government shall receive no compensation for their services as such, but shall be allowed necessary travel expenses (or in the alternative, mileage for use of privately owned vehicles and a per diem in lieu of subsistence not to exceed the rates and amounts prescribed in sections 5702, 5704 of title 5), and other necessary expenses incurred by them in the performance of duties vested in the Panel, without regard to the provisions of subchapter I, chapter 57 of title 5, the Standardized Government Travel Regulations, or section 5731 of title 5. Members of the Panel appointed from outside the Federal Government shall each receive compensation at a rate not to exceed the per diem rate equivalent to the rate for GS–18 for each day such member is engaged in the actual performance of duties vested in the Panel in addition to reimbursement for travel, subsistence, and other necessary expenses in accordance with the provisions of the foregoing sentence. Not more than four such members shall be chosen from among the officers and employees of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

The Panel shall submit an annual report to the Administrator and to the Congress. In the first annual report submitted after December 30, 2005, the Panel shall include an evaluation of NASA’s management and culture related to safety. Each annual report shall include an evaluation of the Administration’s compliance with the recommendations of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board through retirement of the Space Shuttle.