(a) General. All NASA employees involved in preparing and issuing NASA public information are responsible for proper coordination among Headquarters and Center offices to include review and clearance by appropriate officials prior to issuance. Such coordination will be accomplished through procedures developed and published by the NASA Assistant Administrator for Public Affairs.

Ask a legal question, get an answer ASAP!
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

(b) Coordination. To ensure timely release of public information, Headquarters and Center Public Affairs Officers are required to coordinate to obtain review and clearance by appropriate officials, keep each other informed of changes, delays, or cancellation of releases, and provide advance notification of the actual release.

(c) All public information shall be coordinated through the appropriate Headquarters offices, including review by the appropriate Mission Directorate Associate Administrator and Mission Support Office head, or their designees, to ensure scientific, technical, and programmatic accuracy, and review by the Assistant Administrator for Public Affairs or his/her designee to ensure that public information products are well written and appropriate for the intended audience.

(d) Centers may, however, without the full coordination of Headquarters, issue public information that is institutional in nature, of local interest, or has been deemed not to be a Headquarters release. These releases must be coordinated through the appropriate Center offices and approved by the Center Director and Center Public Affairs Director. The Center Public Affairs Director is required to provide proper notification to the Office of Public Affairs, NASA Headquarters, prior to release. The Assistant Administrator for Public Affairs or his/her designee will determine which public information will be issued nationwide by NASA Headquarters and shall publish guidelines for the release of public information that may be issued by Centers without clearance from Headquarters offices.

(e) Dispute Resolution. Any dispute arising from a decision to proceed or not proceed with the issuance of a news release or other type of public information will be addressed and resolved by the Assistant Administrator for Public Affairs with the appropriate Mission Directorate Associate Administrator, Mission Support Office head, Center Director, and others, such as Center Public Affairs Directors, as necessary. However, the appropriate Mission Directorate Associate Administrator shall be the arbiter of disputes about the accuracy or characterization of programmatic, technical, or scientific information. Additional appeals may be made to the Chief of Strategic Communications and to the Office of the Administrator. When requested by a Center Public Affairs Director, an explanation of the resolution will be provided in writing to all interested Agency parties.