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===================== ===== A ===== ===================== AC: Atlas Centaur. ACF: Automated Control Function. ADFRF: Formerly, Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility, now re-designated simply as DFRF (q.v.). Before ADFRF, it was DFRC---Dryden Flight Research Center. ACR: Active Cavity Radiometer. ACRIM: ACR Irradiance Monitor. A scientific instrument used to study the Sun's energy output. ACRV: Assured Crew Return Vehicle. Also, Astronaut Crew Return Vehicle.* ADEOS: [Japan] Advanced Earth Observing Satellite. AFGWC: Air Force Global Weather Center. AFP: Air Force Program. Usually in the form AFP-n, where n is some three-digit number. For example, a classified reconaissance satellite launched in 1990 was part of the AFP-731 program. AFPRO: Air Force Plan Representative Office. AIAA: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. AIRS: [EOS] Atmospheric Infrared Sounder. AMOS: Air Force Maui Optical System. AMSR: [EOS] Advanced Microwave Sounding Radiometer. AOA: Abort Once Around. If the space shuttle has an engine failure which still enables it to orbit the earth once, it can make an abort landing at either Edwards AFB or at White Sands. AOCS: Attitude and Orbit Control System. APE: Auroral Photography Experiment. APL: Applied Physics Laboratory. A US-government supported research institute operated as a unit of JHU, located in Maryland between Baltimore and DC. APM: Columbus Attached Pressurized Module. The ESA contribution to Fred. APM: Atmospheric Particle Monitor. A device which watches for contamination of the shuttle cargo bay during launch. APU: Auxiliary Power Unit.* ARC: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. The home of the sci.space/SPACE Digest archives, as well as Peter Yee. ARISTOTELES: Applications and Research Involving Space Technologies Observing the Earth's Field from Low Earth Orbiting Satellite. ARTEMIS: Advanced Relay Technology Mission. An ESA experimental comsat, to be launched late in the 1990s. ASI: [Italian] Agenzia Spaziale Italiano. The Italian space agency. ASTER: [EOS] Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection. ASS: Antenna Support Structure. ASTRO: Space astrophysics laboratory. ASTRO-1 was flown aboard the Shuttle in December of 1990; ASTRO-2 has been announced. The instruments in the ASTRO-2 package will be HUT, UIT, and WUPPE. ATAL: Alternate Transoceanic Abort Landing. See TAL. ATDRS: Advanced Tracking and Data Relay Satellite. See TDRS. ATO: Abort To Orbit.* If the space shuttle has a failure on takeoff which still allows it to enter a minimal orbit, it will do so and attempt to salvage whatever is left of the mission. ATSR: Along Track Scanning Radiometer. AURA: Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy. One of the large university consortia which vie for government contracts to do space and astronomy research. AURA operates STScI and NOAO, with funding from the NSF (primarily) and the AF. There are twenty-one members: U. Arizona, U. California, U. Colorado, U. Hawaii, Indiana U., UMD, U. Michigan, PSU, SUNY Stony Brook, UTexas Austin, U. Washington, CIT, U. Chicago, Harvard, U. Illinois, JHU, MIT, OSU, Princeton, U. Wisconsin, and Yale. AVHRR: Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer. One of the five instruments aboard late-model TIROS-N class weather satellites. AW&ST: Aviation Week and Space Technology.* Also known as Aviation Leak or Av Leak. AXAF: Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility.* One of NASA's "Great Observatories" along with HST, GRO, and SIRTF. ===================== ===== B ===== ===================== BAe: British Aerospace. BATSE: Burst and Transient Source Experiment. An instrument aboard GRO. BBXRT: Broad Band X-Ray Telescope. One of the instruments flown on the ASTRO-I mission (STS-35). BBXRT will *not* be part of ASTRO-II (or at least, the announcement of ASTRO-I didn't mention it, and they were considered separate packages). BECO: Booster Engine Cutoff. Part of the Atlas-E launch sequence. BIMDA: Bioserve-Instrumentation Technology Associates Materials Dispersion Analysis. An experiment to study the feasibility of commercial biomedical manufacturing in microgravity. BMFT: [German] Bundesministerium fur Forschung und Technologie. [Somebody provide proper accentless spelling, translation?] BNSC: British National Space Center. ===================== ===== C ===== ===================== CADH: Communications and Data Handling. Cassini: A Saturn orbiter and Titan probe designed to complement CRAF. Will study the rings and moons of Saturn. CCAFS: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The USAF launch site next to KSC. Delta, Atlas, and Titans are all launched from here. CCDS: Center for the Commercial Development of Space. CCRS: Canada Centre for Remote Sensing. CCSDS: Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems. CDA: Command and Data Acquisition. CERES: [EOS] Clouds and Earth's Radiant Energy System. CFF: Columbus Free Flyer. CFRP: Carbon Fibre Reinforced Plastic. CIT: California Institute of Technology (CalTech) CITE: Cargo Integration Test Equipment. Used to test payloads before they are installed in a Shuttle to be launched. CLAES: Cryogenic Limb Array Etalon Spectrometer. An instrument aboard UARS which measures the concentrations of various compounds of nitrogen and chlorine, as well as ozone, water vapor, and methane. CMCC: [ESA] Central Mission Control Centre. COBE: Cosmic Background Explorer. This satellite analyzes the spectrum of the 3 K cosmic background radiation left over from the formation of the Universe. Irregularities (or lack thereof) in the cosmic background provide information to cosmologists and physicists about the conditions in the very early Universe. COMSAT: Communications Satellite. Also Communications Satellite Corporation. COSTAR: Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement. How to fix the HST. CNES: [French] Centre National d'Etude Spatiales. The French space agency. CR: Correlation Radiometer. CRAF: Comet Rendezvous/Asteroid Fly-by. This space probe will gather information about the early Solar System by examining a comet (Kopff) and an asteroid (449 Hamburga) at close range. CREAM: Cosmic Radiation Effects and Activatiom Monitor. CRL: [Japan] Communication Research Lab. CRRES: Combined Release / Radiation Effects Satellite.* This satellite releases materials while in orbit to study auroras and other geomagnetic interactions. CSA: Canadian Space Agency. CSIRO: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization. CSM: Command and Service Module (Apollo spacecraft).* CTIO: Cerro Tololo Inter-Ameriocan Observatory. The southern-hemisphere operation of NOAO. CZCS: Coastal Zone Color Scanner. [Anybody know which bird[s]?] ===================== ===== D ===== ===================== DACS: Data Acquisition and Control Subsystem. DESAT: Desaturation. Some probes, such as Magellan, use reaction wheels to position themsevles around some axis. Eventually, the wheel gets to be spinning so fast that the probe can no longer use it for this purpose. When this happens, the wheel is said to be "saturated." The probe can remedy this situation by stopping the wheel comppletely and then reorienting itself; this is called a DESAT. DFRF: Dryden Flight Research Facility, formerly ADFRF (q.v.). Their Internet domain name is dfrf.nasa.gov. Located at EAFB. Home of Mary Shafer and lots of older research aircraft. The first SCA also lives here, as well as B52-launched Pegasuses and the last flying SR-71s. DLR: [German] [Anybody have the original German?] German Aerospace Research Establishment. DMSP: Defense Meterological Satellite Program. Provided cloud cover information to the military. DOD: Department Of Defense (sometimes DoD).* DOE: Department of Energy (sometimes DoE; also Department of Education and in the UK Department of the Environment). DOT: Department of Transportation. [??] The agency which issues permits for commercial launch vehicles. DOMSAT: Domestic Satellite (usually also a COMSAT). DPSS: Data Processing Services Subsystem. DRSS: [European] Data Relay Satellite System. DSN: The Deep Space Network. A network of ground stations used by NASA to collect data from space probes. DSO: Detailed Supplementary Objective. ===================== ===== E ===== ===================== EAFB: Edwards Air Force Base. The primary Shuttle landing site. Also the primary US center for test-flying new aircraft. (Jonathan McDowell says the Navy will complain about this statement.) EDC: EROS Data Center. EDO: Extended Duration Orbiter.* A kit installed in an orbiter to extend mission time to 16 days. EDRS: European Data Relay Satellite. EDS: Electronic Data Systems. A US Aerospace/Electronics contractor. EGRET: Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment Telescope. An instrument aboard GRO. ELDO: European Launcher Development Organisation. ELV: Expendable Launch Vehicle.* EMU: Extravehicular Mobility Unit.* ENAC: Energetic Neutral Atom Camera. ENACEOS: [EOS] ENAC for EOS. ENSO: El Nino/Southern Oscillation. An occasional, temporary climate change, involving changes in temperature distributions in the South Pacific, which has far-reaching global effects (e.g., drought in Africa, hurricanes in the Caribbean, etc.). EODC: [UK] Earth Observation Data Centre. EOS: Earth Observing System.* Also (formerly?) Electrophoresis Operations in Space. EOSP: [EOS] Earth Observing Scanning Polarimeter. EPD: Energetic Particles Detector. ERBE: Earth Radiation Budget Experiment. EROS: Earth Resources Observations System. ERS: Earth Resources Satellite. An ESA remote sensing satellite to be launched in 1991. Also, a NASDA remote sensing satellite to be launched in 1992. ERS: Environmental Research Satellite. An light satellite launched in the 1960s by USAF. ESA: European Space Agency.* ESOC: European Space Operations Centre. Located in Darmstadt, Germany; mission control for some ESA satellites. ESIS: ESA Space Information Systems. ESPC: European Space Power Conference. ESRO: European Space Research Organisation. ESTEC: European Space Research and Technology Centre. Located in the Netherlands. ET: (Shuttle) External Tank.* ETE: End-to-End (Test). ETM: Enhanced Thematic Mapper. ETR: Eastern Test Range. The Atlantic Ocean, although sometimes applied to Cape Canaveral in particular. EUMETSAT: European Meterological Satellite Organisation. EUTELSAT: European Telecommunications Satellite Organization. EUVE: Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer. A NASA astronomy satellite scheduled for launch in 1991. EVA: Extra-Vehicular Activity. That is, space-walk. ===================== ===== F ===== ===================== FAP: Freedom attached payloads. FEM: Flight-Engineering Model. FFCC: Free-Flyer Control Centre. FOC: Faint Object Camera.* One of five scientific instruments on the HST. FOLD: Federally-Owned LANDSAT Data. FOS: Faint Object Spectrograph.* One of five scientific instruments on the HST. FPD: Flight Projects Directorate. Fred: Space Station Freedom, after budget cuts have downsized the project so much that the word "Freedom" no longer fits on the side (or as a description). FRR: Flight Readiness Review. ===================== ===== G ===== ===================== GAS: Get-Away Special.* GEO: Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (also GSO).* GEM: Giotto Extended Mission. GEM: Graphite Epoxy Motor. Strap-on solids used on the Delta 79** rocket. GHRS: Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph.* One of five scientific instruments on the HST. GISS: Goddard Institute for Space Studies. GLOMR: Global Low-Orbiting Message Relay. A light DoD comsat. GMS: Geostationary Meterological Satellite. GNC: Guidance, Navigation, and Control. GOMR: [EOS] Global Ozone Monitoring Radiometer. GPS: Global Positioning System. The Navstar navigation satellite constellation. GMT: Greenwich Mean Time.* This is not really the same as Universal Time Coordinated (UTC), but it is numerically identical so far as I can make out. Also called "Zulu" after the military convention of assigning letters to time zones. GOES: Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite.* One of a series of Clarke-orbit weather satellites operated by NOAA to keep track of severe weather (hurricanes and the like) in the tropics. GGM: [Russian] Goskogidromet/Gidromettsentr. Soviet state meteorological agency. GPS: Global Positioning System. The (US) DoD's network of satellites for determining one's position accurately on the globe grid. Also NavStar. GRO: Gamma Ray Observatory.* One of NASA's four Great Observatories, the others being HST, AXAF, and SIRTF. GRU: [Russian] Glavnoye Razvedivatel'noye Upravileniye. Soviet Military Intelligence. GSC: HST Guide Star Catalog. The list of the stars which can be used as references to orient the HST. GSFC: NASA Godddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.. Where much of the operational control for many NASA-operated satellites is vested. GUGK: [Russian] Glavnoye Upravileniye Geodesii i Kartografii. Soviet Geodesic and Cartographic satellite agency. ===================== ===== H ===== ===================== HALOE: Halogen Occultation Experiment. This UARS instrument gathers a verticle profile of atmospheric HF, HCl, CH4, CO2, O3, water vapor, and nitrogen compounds. HCI: Highes Communications, Inc. The largest US DOMSAT operator. HCMM: Heat Capacity Mapping Mission. HEAO: High Energy Astronomical Observatory. Hera: Hermes Robotic Arm. HGA: High-Gain Antenna. HH: Hitchhiker (generally). Seen as HH-G and HH-M (for Goddard and Marshall, respectively). HiRDLS: [EOS] High Resolution Dynamics Limb Sounder. HIRIS: [EOS] High Resolution Imaging Spectrometer. HIRS: High Resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder. One of five instruments aboard late-model TIROS-N class weather satellites. HRDI: High Resolution Doppler Imager. A UARS instrument which measures wind speeds. HRSR: High-Resolution Scanning Radiometer. HST: Hubble Space Telescope.* HSP: High Speed Photometer. One of five scientific instruments on the Hubble Space Telescope. HUT: Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope. One of the instruments flown on ASTRO-I (STS-35). (Oddly enough, this is also Hopkins slang for the A. D. Hutzler Undergraduate Library.) ===================== ===== I ===== ===================== ICBC: IMAX Cargo Bay Camera. IGBP: International Geosphere/Biosphere Programme. IKI: [Russian] Institut Kosmischeskikh Issledovaniya. Space Research Institute, the Soviet equivalent of JPL. IMAX: Not really an acronym. IMAX Systems Corp. provides NASA with two large-format motion-picture cameras, for both scientific and moviemaking purposes. IML: International Microgravity Lab. INTELSAT: International Telecommunications Satellite. IPMP: Investigations into Polymer Membrane Processing. IR: Infrared.* IRAS: Infrared Astronomical Satellite. This satellite, launched in 1983, made a full-sky map of infrared emissions before its cooling system ran down, rendering it inoperable, in that same year. ISAMS: Improved Stratospheric and Mesospheric Sounder. An instrument aboard UARS used to study water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide [can someone tell me the new nomenclature for this?], nitric acid, ozone, methane, and CO. ISAS: Institute of Space and Astronautical Science. One of Japan's two space agencies; this one does the science satellites. ISO: Infrared Space Observatory. An ESA astronomy satellite to be launched in 1994. ISPM: International Solar Polar Mission. Former name for Ulysses. ISY: International Space Year. 1992. ISZ: [Russian] Iskusstvenniy Sputnik Zemli. Artificial Earth Satellite. IUE: International Ultraviolet Explorer.* Launched in 1978, and still going, and going, and going... IUS: Inertial Upper Stage. Used as an upper stage for the Shuttle and Titan 3 and 4 launch vehicles. IVT: Interface Verification Test. ===================== ===== J ===== ===================== JEM: Japanese Experiment Module (for Fred).* JHU: Johns Hopkins University. JILA: Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics.* JPL: Jet Propulsion Laboratory.* JPL is run by CalTech (CIT) under contract to NASA. Although their original purpose was to study rocketry (the name was chosen for respectability), JPL is now primarily associated (in the public mind) with space probes and image processing. JSC: Johnson Space Center,* in Houston, Texas. ===================== ===== K ===== ===================== KB: [Russian]. Construction Bureau. A Soviet design bureau which makes experimental spacecraft. Sometimes seen as OKB (for Experimental). For example, KB Korolev designed the Sputnik, and has since evolved into NPO Energiya. KPNO: Kitt Peak National Observatory. Part of NOAO. KSC: Kennedy Space Center.* Located on beautiful Merritt Island in Florida. ===================== ===== L ===== ===================== LAGEOS: Laser Geodynamics Satellite. LANL: Los Alamos National Laboratories. LaRC: NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va. LDEF: Long Duration Exposure Facility.* LEDA: [ESA] On-line Earthnet Data Access. LEM: Lunar Excursion Module (Apollo spacecraft.)* Officially, this should be spelled "LM," but the longer form seems to be preferred outisde of officialdom. LEO: Low Earth Orbit.* LeRC: NASA Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio. They do aircraft and space propulsion, space power, the Atlas/Centaur launch vehicle, and Fred's power system, among others. Home of Ron Graham. LFC: Large Format Camera. See IMAX. LIS: [EOS] Lightning Imaging Sensor. LLNL: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories.* LOX: Liquid Oxygen, used as rocket fuel. LRB: Liquid Rocket Booster.* ===================== ===== M ===== ===================== MACS: Modular Attitude Control System. The first MACS flew on Solar Max; the MACS in UARS is, in fact, the orginal MACS from Solar Max, refurbished. MBB: Messerschmitt-Bolkow-Blohm. MDSSC: McDonnell Douglas Space Systems Corp. MFPE: Misson From Planet Earth. One of the Augustine Commission's recommendations was for NASA to spend a small amount of money (the report actually said "go-as-you-pay," which means "little if any funding" in Washington) to launch a renewed space-probe initiative, perhaps with some SETI as well. MIMR: [EOS] Multifrequency Imaging Microwave Radiometer. MISR: [EOS] Multiangle Imaging Spectro-Radiometer. MLS: Microwave Limb Sounder. An instrument aboard UARS used to map concentrations of chlorine monoxide, ozone, and water vapor. MMCC: [European] Mission Management and Control Centre. MMPO: [European] Mission Management and Planning Office. MMS: Multi-mission Modular Spacecraft. A standardized design for scientific satellites. MODE: Middeck Zero-Gravity Dynamics Experiment. MODIS: [EOS] Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer. MODIS-N: [EOS] MODIS - Nadir. MODIS-T: [EOS] MODIS - Tilt. MOPITT: [EOS] Measurements of Pollution in the Troposphere. MRIR: Medium Resolution Infrared Radiometer. An instrument on Nimbus satellites. MSFC: NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. Former home of Werner von Braun; now home of Jonathan McDowell and the SPACELINK bulletin board. MSOCC: Multisatellite Operations Control Center. MSS: Multispectral Scanner. One of the instruments aboard certain Landsats. MSU: Microwave Sounding Unit. One of the five instruments aboard late-model TIROS-N class weather satellites. MTC: Man-tended Capability. One of the conceived modes of operation for Fred. MTFF: Columbus Man-Tended Free-Flyer. A version of the APM which does not depend on Fred, intended as a hedge for ESA against the possibility of Fred cancellation. It would be serviced by the Hermes spaceplane. MTPE: Mission To Planet Earth. One of the Augustine Commission's recommendations was for NASA to spend some time and money using probes and satellites to study Earth's environment. Its complement is MFPE. ===================== ===== N ===== ===================== NACA: National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. This agency was founded in 1916; it was renamed NASA in 1959. NAS: Numerical Aerodynamic Simulation. The US national supercomputing center for aeronautics. Home of Eugene "Push for moderated newsgroups" Miya. NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration.* NASDA: National Space Development Agency. One of Japan's two space agencies; this one does non-science satellites (such as comsats, weather, ad such like). NASP: National AeroSpace Plane.* NESDIS: National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service. NGT: NASA Ground Terminal. The interface between WSGT and GSFC. NIST: National Institute for Standards and Technology (was NBS).* Home of John Roberts. NOAA: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.* Also, a series of polar-orbiting weather satellites operated by NOAA. NOAO: National Optical Astronomical Observatories. A collection of observatories operated by AURA (the same institution that operates STScI) including KPNO, CTIO, and the NSO. NPO: [Russian]. Scientific Production Organization. A type of Soviet organization which can be roughly translated as `Corp.' or `Ltd.' For example, NPO Energiya, the Soviet agency in charge of piloted civil space missions. NRL: [US] Naval Research Laboratory. NRO: National Reconnaissance Organization. One of the USA's largest space agencies, located at the Pentagon but part of the CIA and NSA. Last I heard, it is against the rules of the House of Representatives to even mention the acronym "NRO" during floor debate on any issue. NRSC: [UK] National Remote Sensing Centre. NSF: National Science Foundation.* NSI: NASA Science Internet. NASA's portion of the IP internet, which also carries DECnet traffic. NSI-DECnet was formerly known as SPAN. NSO: National Solar Observatory. Part of NOAO, with facilities located at Kitt Peak and Sacramento Peak. NSSDC: National Space Science Data Center. NSSDCA.MSFC.NASA.GOV in the DNS; ????? on SPAN. NSSDC is responsible for the distribution of data collected by NASA. ===================== ===== O ===== ===================== OCTS: Ocean Color and Temperature Scanner. OCTW: Optical Communications Through the shuttle Window. OMB: Office of Management and Budget.* OMS: Orbital Maneuvering System.* OPF: Orbiter Processing Facility.* ORBI: Stock ticker symbol for OSC. OSC: Orbital Sciences Corporation. One of the few existing companies formed for the purposes of space commercialization. OSC is best known for the Pegasus, a launch vehicle that does away with the lower stages of a rocket by launching the vehicle from the air. OSCAR: Orbiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio. OSS: Office of the Space Station. Home of Fred. OSSA: Office of Space Science and Applications. OSTP: Office of Science and Technology Policy. An executive-branch (US) agency which decides on important areas of science and technology for the government to be involved (or not be involved) in. OV: Orbital Vehicle.* The shuttle orbiters are officially numbered as OV-foo, where foo is some integer. ===================== ===== P ===== ===================== PAM-D: Payload Assist Module (Delta class). A solid upper stage using the Star 48 motor. PARE: Physiological and Anatomical Rodent Experiment. PCG: Protein Crystal Growth experiment. PCT: Photometric Calibration Test. PEM: Payload Electronics Module. PEM: Particle Environment Monitor. This instrument, aboard UARS, measures energetic particles from the sun in several different energy ranges. PHA: Physics and Astronomy. Department name at several universities including JHU. POCC: Payload/Platform Operations Control Center. PPF: Columbus Polar Platform. An unpiloted component of the ESA space station program, to monitor earth resources and the environment from a polar orbit. PVO: [Russian] Protivo-Vosdushniya Oborona. Soviet Air Defense Force; it runs the Soviet early-warning satellites. ===================== ===== R ===== ===================== RAE: [UK] Royal Aerospace Establishment. RAL: [UK] Rutherford-Appleton Laboratory. RCS: Reaction Control System. RCS: Revision Control System. Origin of the header line X-RCS: in this article; it's the software system I use to track changes in this document. RESTEC: [Japan] Remote Sensing Technology Center. ROSAT: ROentgen SATellite.* A joint German-US-UK X-ray observatory. RME: Radiation Monitoring Experiment. RMS: Remote Manipulator System.* The people who built it have another name, which I can't remember. (Henry?) RTLS: Return To Launch Site (Shuttle abort plan).* Under this scheme, the shuttle makes a wide turn and then glides back into KSC upon abort. RTG: Radioisotope Thermal Generator. A ``nuclear battery'' used to power satellites and space probes, which uses the heat of radioactive decay to drive a thermocouple, and thus generate electricity. Often the source of clashes between space activists and environmentalists, especially around probe launch times. RVSN: [Russian] Raketniye Voiska Stratigcheskovo Naznacheniya, SSSR. Strategic Rocket Forces. They carry out Soviet space launches. ===================== ===== S ===== ===================== SAA: Single Access Antenna. (A TDRS term?) SAM: Shuttle Activation Monitor. SAR: Synthetic Aperture Radar.* SAREX: Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment. SCA: Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, a modified 747 which ferries the space shuttles from EAFB to KSC for processing and eventual re-launch. The original SCA lives at ADFRF; the new one lives in El Paso. [Do they have an acronym?] SDIO: Strategic Defense Initiative Organization. SECO: Sustainer Engine Cutoff. Part of the Atlas-E launch sequence. SEM: Space Environment Monitor. A charged-particle spectrometer aboard late-model TIROS-N class weather satellites. SEP: [European] Societe Europeenne de Propulsion. SETI: Search for extraterrestrial intelligence.* There is a venerable Air Force report (excerpted in Julian May's _Intervention_) which declares that SETI is not likely to turn anything up within the next few centuries. This is also the source of the remark about aliens landing their UFO at an American Physical Society convention. SHARE: Space Station Heat Pipe Advanced Radiator Element. SITURN: Galileo carries some rather sensitive instruments aboard. In order to protect these instruments, the probe is occasinally repositioned so that they are shielded from the sun by the high-gain antenna. This is called a SITURN. SIR: Shuttle Imaging Radar. Also S/R, as in S/R A (that is, SIR-A). SIRTF: Space Infrared Telescope Facility.* One of NASA's ``Great Observatories.'' SLAP: Space link access protocol. SLAR: Side-Looking Airborne Radar. A remote-sensing technique using radar shot from high-flying planes. SME: Solar Mesosphere Explorer.* SMM: Solar Maximum Mission.* Also called ``Solar Max.'' SNR: Signal to Noise Ratio.* SOCC: Satellite Operations Control Center. NOAA's is located in Suitland, Md. SOLSTICE: Solar Stellar Irradiance Comparison Experiment. This UARS instrument compares the sun's UV output to that of bright blue stars [class, anyone?], to provide a point of reference for future solar UV monitoring experiments. SPOT: [French] Systeme Probatoire pour l'Observation de la Terre. The French commercial remote-sensing satellite. SPOT images are sold by SPOT Image Corp. in the US. SRB: Solid Rocket Booster.* SRM: Solid Rocket Motor.* SSBUV: Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet experiment. SSCE: Solid Surface Combustion Experiment. SSF: Space Station Freedom.* See Fred. SSME: Space Shuttle Main Engine.* SSO: Spurious Shut-off. SSPO: Space Shuttle Program Office. SSRV: Solar-Sail Race Vehicle. SSTO: Single Stage To Orbit. STARCAL: Star Calibration. Every so often, Magellan is programmed to recalibrate its position with respect to some (reasonably) fixed stars. STIKSCAT: [EOS] Stick Scatterometer. STS: Space Transportation System.* That is, the shuttle. STScI: Space Telescope Science Institute. The organization in scientific control of the HST; operated at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., by AURA under contract to NASA. SUSIM: Solar Ultraviolet Spectral Irradiance Monitor. One of the instruments aboard UARS, this device measures the solar energy in the ultraviolet range. ===================== ===== T ===== ===================== TAL: Trans-Atlantic Abort Landing. One of the shuttle's myriad abort modes; this one involves landing Banjul in the Gambia, Ben Guerir in Morocco, or Moron, Spain. [Anyone know how it would be ferried back? Can either SCA cross the Atlantic?] TCM: Trajectory Control Maneuver. TDRS: Tracking and Data Relay Satellite.* THIR: Temperature/Humidity Infrared Radiometer. One of the instruments aboard Nimbus spacecraft. TIROS-N: Television Infrared Observation Satellite. A class of polar-orbit weather satellites including the NOAA series (q.v.). The first weather satellite ever, which was oddly enough called just "TIROS-N", was launched on 1 April 1960. TIROS is a cooperative program involving Canada, the UK, and France, in addition to NOAA and NASA in the US. TKSC: [Japan] Tsukuba Space Center. TM: Thematic Mapper. A Landsat instrument. TOMS: Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer. TOPEX: Ocean Topography Experiment. [US-French joint program.] TPCE: Tank Pressure Control Experiment. TRMM: Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission. TsPK: [Russian] Tsentr Podgotovka Kosmonavti. Cosmonaut Training Center at Zvyozdniy Gorodok (Starry Town or "Star City"). The Soviet equivalent of JSC, except that mission control is at TsUP, instead. TSS: Tethered Satellite System.* TsUP: [Russian] Tsentr Upravileniya Polyoti. Flight Control Center. The Soviet equivalent of JSC, except that cosmonaut training is located at TsPK, instead. TTC: Telemetry, Telecommand, and Control. ===================== ===== U ===== ===================== U3P: [French] Union pour la Promotion de la Propulsion Photonique. UARS: Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite.* This satellite studies the effects of human activity on Earth's atmosphere, including ozone depletion. During its expected twenty-month lifespan, it will see two Arctic winters and one Antarctic winter. Part of MTPE. The instruments are: ACRIM II, CLAES, ISAMS, MLS, HALOE, HRDI, WINDII, SUSIM, SOLSTICE, and PEM. UIT: Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope. One of the instruments carried on the ASTRO-I (STS-35) shuttle mission, which will be returning for ASTRO-II. UoSAT: University of Surrey Satellite. An amateur radio satellite built at said university. USAF: United States Air Force. UT: Universal Time.* UTC: Universal Time, Coordinated. UT or UoT: Any one of several institutions named ``University of foo'' where foo starts with a T. For example, University of Texas and University of Toronto (home of Henry Spencer). UV: Ultraviolet.* ===================== ===== V ===== ===================== VAB: Vehicle Assembly Building.* Originally constructed to assemble Saturn V stacks, the VAB was recycled to perform the analogous service for the shuttle program. One of the largest open enclosed spaces in the world, the VAB sometimes generates its own weather. VAFB: Vandenberg Air Force Base.* VAS: VISSR Atmospheric Sounder. A GOES instrument. VECO: Vernier Engine Cutoff. Part of the Atlas-E launch sequence. VEEGA: Venus-Earth-Earth Gravity Assist. The sometimes praised, more often cursed trajectory used by the Galileo probe to reach Jupiter; this program as made necessary by post-Challenger modifications to the spacecraft. It takes six years total travel time to reach Jupiter. VISSR: Visible/Infrared Spin-Scan Radiometer. VMF: [Russian] Voenno-Morskoy Flot. The Soviet Navy; it runs Soviet navsats. VOIR: Venus Orbiting Imaging Radar (superseded by VRM).* VPF: Vertical Processing Facility. VRM: Venus Radar Mapper (now called Magellan).* VVS: [Russian] Voenno-Vosdushniye Sili. Soviet Air Force; it trains military cosmonauts. ===================== ===== W ===== ===================== WF/PC: Wide Field / Planetary Camera.* One of five scientific instruments on the HST. WFPC-II: Replacement for the WP/PC.* WINDII: Wind Imaging Interferometer. WMO: World Meterological Organisation. WSGT: White Sands Ground Terminal. The ground station for the TDRS system. WSMR: White Sands Missile Range. WTR: Western Test Range. Vandenberg AFB plus part of the Pacific Ocean. WUPPE: Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment. One of the instruments carried on the ASTRO-I mission, STS-35, which will be making a return appearance on ASTRO-II.