ASSESSMENT OF MARS ARCHITECTURE.

SEC. 516. ASSESSMENT OF MARS ARCHITECTURE. (a) Assessment.—The Administrator shall enter into an arrangement with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to assess— (1) the Administration’s Mars exploration architecture and its responsiveness to the strategies, priorities, and guidelines put forward by the National Academies’ planetary science decadal surveys and other relevant National Academies Mars-related reports; (2) the long-term goals of the Administration’s Mars Exploration Program and such program’s ability to optimize the science return, given the current fiscal posture of the program; (3) the Mars exploration architecture’s relationship to Mars-related activities to be undertaken by foreign agencies and organizations; and (4) the extent to which the Mars exploration architecture represents a reasonably balanced mission portfolio. (b) Report to Congress.—Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit the results of the assessment to the appropriate committees of Congress.