A
ACE Advanced Composition ExplorerACIP Aerodynamic Coefficient Identification Package
ACRV Assured Crew Return Vehicle
AOA Angle Of Attack
AOA Abort Once Around
AOS Acquisition of Signal
APAS Androgynous Peripheral Attachment System
APU Auxiliary Power Unit
ARC Ames Research Center
ASRM Advanced Solid Rocket Motor
ASTP Apollo-Soyuz Test Project
ATDRS Advanced Tracking and Data Relay Satellite
ATLAS Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Sciences
ATM Apollo Telescope Mount (Skylab)
ATO Abort To Orbit
ATV Automated Transfer Vehicle
AU Astronomical Unit
AXAF Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility
B
BIS British Interplanetary SocietyBMDO Ballistic Missile Defense Office
C
CAD Computer Aided DesignCaLV Cargo Launch Vehicle
CAM Computer Aided Manufacturing
CATS Cheap Access To Space
CAPCOM Capsule Communicator
CBC Common Booster Core
CBM Common Berthing Mechanism
CCAFS Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
CCTV Closed Circuit Television
CDR Commander
CDT Central Daylight Time
CDV Cargo Delivery Vehicle
CEV Crew Exploration Vehicle
CG Center of Gravity
CHAMP Comet Halley Active Monitoring Program
CLV Crew Launch Vehicle
CM Command Module (Apollo spacecraft)
CMG Control Movement Gyro
CONUS Continental United States
CO2 Carbon Dioxide
CRAF Comet Rendezvous / Asteroid Flyby
CRV Crew Reuturn Vehicle
CSA Canadian Space Agency
CSM Command and Service Module (Apollo spacecraft)
CST Central Standard Time
D
DC-X Delta Clipper Experimental ProgramDFI Developmental Flight Instrumentation
DFRC Dryden Flight Research Center
DFRF Dryden Flight Research Facility (was ADFRF, now DFRC)
DMSP Defense Meteorological Satellite Program
DOD Department Of Defense
DOE Department Of Energy
DOT Department Of Transportation
DSCS Defense Satellite Communications System
DSN Deep Space Network
DSP Defense Support Program
E
EAFB Edwards Air Force BaseECS Environmental Control System
ECLSS Environmental Control and Life Support System
EDO Extended Duration Orbiter
EDL Entry, Descent, and Landing
EDS Earth Departure Stage
EELV Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle
ELV Expendable Launch Vehicle
EMU Extravehicular Mobility Unit
EOI Earth Orbit Insertion
EOR Earth Orbit Rendezvous
EOS Earth Observing System
ERBS Earth Radiation Budget Satellite
ERV Earth Rerturn Vehicle
ESA European Space Agency
ESAS Exploration Systems Architecture Study
EST Eastern Standard Time
ET External Tank (Space Shuttle)
EVA ExtraVehicular Activity
F
FCS Flight Control SystemFTETTM From The Earth To The Moon (HBO Mini-series)
FTL Faster Than Light
FTP File Transfer Protocol
G
GAS Get Away SpecialGEO Geosynchronous Earth Orbit
GMT Greenwich Mean Time
GPS Global Positioning System
GRC Glenn Research Center (NASA)
GRO Gamma Ray Observatory
GSFC Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA)
GTO Geostationary Transfer Orbit
H
H2 HydrogenH2O2 Hydrogen Peroxide
He Helium
HEO High Earth Orbit
HGA High Gain Antenna
HLV Heavy Lift Vehicle
HOTOL HOrizontal TakeOff and Landing (proposed SSTO design)
HPU Hydraulic Power Unit
HST Hubble Space Telescope
HTHL Horizontal Takeoff Horizontal Landing
HTV H-II Transfer Vehicle
HTVL Horizontal Takeoff Vertical Landing
I
LMO Low Mars OrbitIMU Inertial Measurement Unit
INU Inertial Navigation Unit
ISAS Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (Japan)
ISO Infrared Space Observatory
ISO International Standards Organization
Isp Specific Impulse
ISRU In-Situ Resource Utilization
ISS International Space Station
ISY International Space Year
IUS Inertial Upper Stage
J
JEM Japanese Experiment Module (International Space Station)JPL Jet Propulsion Laboratory
JSC Johnson Space Center (NASA)
JWST James Webb Space Telescope
K
KAO Kuiper Airborne ObservatoryKM Kilometer
KSC Kennedy Space Center (NASA)
kWh kilowatt hour
L
LCC Life Cycle CostLCH4 Liquid Methane
LDEF Long Duration Exposure Facility
LEM Lunar Excursion Module (Apollo spacecraft)
LEO Low Earth Orbit
LES Launch Escape System
LGA Low Gain Antenna
LH2 Liquid Hydrogen
LiOH Lithium Hydroxide
LLO Low Lunar Orbit
LM Lunar Module (Apollo spacecraft)
LN2 Liquid Nitrogen
LOI Lunar Orbit Insertion
LOR Lunar Orbit Rendezvous
LOS Loss of Signal
LOX Liquid OXygen
LPR Libration Point Rendezvous
LRB Liquid Rocket Booster
LRO Lunar Reconnaissance Orbitor
LSAM Lunar Surface Access Module
LSR Lunar Surface Rendezvous
LTP Lunar Transient Phenomenon
LUT Launch umbilical Tower
LV Launch Vehicle
M
MA Mercury-AtlasMax Q Maximum Dynamic Pressure
MBPS Mega Bits Per Second
MCC Mission Control Center
MCD Minimum Cost Design
MCO Mars Climate Orbiter
MECO Main Engine CutOff
MER Mars Exploration Rover
MET Mission Elapsed Time
MEV Mars Excursion Vehicle
MGS Mars Global Surveyor
MLP Mobile Launch Platform
MLV Medium Launch Vehicle
MMU Manned Maneuvering Unit
MO Mars Observer
MOI Mars Orbit Insertion
MOL Manned Orbiting Laboratory
MOR Mars Orbit Rendezvous
MPL Mars Polar Lander
MPLM Multi-Purpose Logistics Module
MR Mercury Redstone
MS Mission Specialist
MSFC Marshall Space Flight Center (NASA)
MSL Materials Science Laboratory
mT Metric Ton
MTV Mars Transfer Vehicle
N
N2 NitrogenN2H4 Hydrazine
NACA National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics
NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NASDA NAtional Space Development Agency (Japan)
NASM National Air and Space Museum
NASP National AeroSpace Plane
NEAR Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR Shoemaker)
NERVA Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application
NGST Next Generation Space Telescope
NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
NORAD NORth American aerospace Defense
NRO National Reconnaissance Office
NSA National Security Agency
NSF National Science Foundation
NTO Nitrogen Tetroxide
NTR Nuclear Thermal Rocket
O
OAST Office of Application and Space TechnologyO2 Oxygen
OMB Office of Management and Budget
OMS Orbital Maneuvering System
OPF Orbiter Processing Facility
ORU Orbital Replacement Unit
OSP Orbital Space Plane
OSS Office of Space Science
OSTA Office of Space and Terrestrial Applications
OTV Orbital Transfer Vehicle
OV Orbital Vehicle
P
PAM Payload Assist ModulePAM-D Payload Assist Module, Delta-class
PAO Public Affairs Office
PDI Powered Descent Initiation
PI Principal Investigator
PLSS Portable Life Support System
PLT Pilot
PM Pressurized Module
PMD Propellant Management Device
PMA Pressurized Mating Adaptor
PS Payload Specialist (Space Shuttle)
PV Photovoltaic
R
R&D Research and DevelopmentRADAR RAdio Detection And Ranging
RAS Royal Astronomical Society
RASC Royal Astronomical Society of Canada
RCC Reinforced Carbon-Carbon
RCS Reaction Control System
RME Radiation Monitoring Equipment
RMS Remote Manipulator System
RP1 Kerosene
RSA Russian Space Agency
RSRB Reusable Solid Rocket Booster
RSS Rotating Service Structure
RTG Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator
RTLS Return To Launch Site (Shuttle abort plan)
D
SAR Search And RescueSAR Synthetic Aperture Radar
SAS Space Adaptation Syndrome
SBS Satellite Business System
SCA Shuttle Carrier Aircraft
SDI Strategic Defense Initiative
SDIO Strategic Defense Initiative Organization
SDHLV Shuttle Derived Heavy Launch Vehicle
SEI Space Exploration Initiative
SETI Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence
SIR Shuttle Imaging Radar
SIVB Saturn 5 Third Stage
SLC Space Launch Complex
SM Service Module
SMM Solar Maximum Mission
SOHO SOlar Heliospheric Observatory
SPARTAN Shuttle Point Autonomous Research Tool
SPS Solar Power Satellite
SPS Service Propulsion System
SRB Solid Rocket Booster
SRM Solid Rocket Motor
SRTM Shuttle Radar Topography Mission
SSI Space Studies Institut
SSIP Shuttle Student Involvement Program
SSME Space Shuttle Main Engine
SSRMS Space Station Remote Manipulator System
SST SuperSonic Transport
SSTO Single Stage To Orbit
STA Static Test Article
STS Space Transportation System
T
TAL Transatlantic Abort Landing (Shuttle abort plan)TANSTAAFL There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch (Heinlein)
TDRS Tracking and Data Relay Satellite
TEI Trans Earth Injection
THEMIS THermal EMission Imaging System (Mars 2001 Odyssey experiment)
TIROS Television InfraRed Observation Satellite
TLI Trans Lunar Injection
TMI Trans Mars Injection
TPS Thermal Protection System
TSTO Two Stage To Orbit
TV Television
U
UARS Upper Atmosphere Research SatelliteUDMH Unsymmetrical DiMethyl Hydrazine
UFO Unidentified Flying Object
UHF Ultra High Frequency
USAF United States Air Force
UV UltraViolet
V
VAB Vehicle Assembly Building (formerly Vertical Assembly Building)VAFB Vandenberg Air Force Base
VEEGA Venus-Earth-Earth Gravity Assist (Galileo flight path)
VHF Very High Frequency
VLA Very Large Array
VSE Vision for Space Exploration
VTHL Vertical Takeoff Horizontal Landing
VTVL Vertical Takeoff Vertical Landing
W
WFPC Wide Field Planetary Camera (HST)WSF Wake Shield Facility
WSMR White Sands Missile Range
WTR Western Test Range
