astro space frequently seen acronyms archive name space acronyms edition acronym list for sci astro sci space and sci space shuttle edition dec last posted aug this list is offered as a reference for translating commonly appearing acronyms in the space related newsgroups if i forgot or botched your favorite acronym please let me know also if there s an acronym not on this list that confuses you drop me a line and if i can figure it out i ll add it to the list note that this is intended to be a reference for frequently seen acronyms and is most emphatically not encyclopedic if i incorporated every acronym i ever saw i d soon run out of disk space the list will be posted at regular intervals every days all comments regarding it are welcome i m reachable as bradfrd ncar ucar edu note that this just tells what the acronyms stand for you re on your own for figuring out what they mean note also that the total number of acronyms in use far exceeds what i can list special purpose acronyms that are essentially always explained as they re introduced are omitted further some acronyms stand for more than one thing as of edition of the list these acronyms appear on multiple lines unless they re simply different ways of referring to the same thing thanks to everybody who s sent suggestions since the first version of the list and especially to garrett a wollman wollman griffin uvm edu who is maintaining an independent list somewhat more verbose in character than mine and to daniel fischer dfi specklec mpifr bonn mpg de who is maintaining a truly huge list at last count of acronyms and terms mostly in german which i read fortunately special thanks this time to ken hollis at nasa who sent me a copy of nasa reference publication revised space transportation system and associated payloads glossary acronyms and abbreviations a truly mammoth tome almost pages of tlas special bonus at the end of this posting you will find a perl program written by none other than larry wall whose purpose is to scramble the acronym list in an entertaining fashion thanks larry a a astronomy and astrophysics aao anglo australian observatory aas american astronomical society aas american astronautical society aavso american association of variable star observers ace advanced composition explorer acrv assured crew return vehicle or astronaut crew rescue vehicle adfrf ames dryden flight research facility was dfrf nasa agn active galactic nucleus agu american geophysical union aiaa american institute of aeronautics and astronautics aips astronomical image processing system aj astronomical journal alexis array of low energy x ray imaging sensors alpo association of lunar and planetary observers als advanced launch system ansi american national standards institute aoa abort once around shuttle abort plan aocs attitude and orbit control system ap j astrophysical journal apm attached pressurized module a k a columbus apu auxiliary power unit arc ames research center nasa artemis advanced relay technology mission asa astronomical society of the atlantic asi agenzia spaziale italiano asrm advanced solid rocket motor atdrs advanced tracking and data relay satellite atlas atmospheric laboratory for applications and science atm amateur telescope maker ato abort to orbit shuttle abort plan au astronomical unit aura association of universities for research in astronomy aw st aviation week and space technology a k a avleak axaf advanced x ray astrophysics facility batse burst and transient source experiment on cgro bbxrt broad band x ray telescope astro package bem bug eyed monster bh black hole bima berkeley illinois maryland array bnsc british national space centre btw by the way c t communications tracking ccafs cape canaveral air force station ccd charge coupled device ccds centers for the commercial development of space cd rom compact disk read only memory cfa center for astrophysics cfc chlorofluorocarbon cff columbus free flyer cfht canada france hawaii telescope cgro arthur holley compton gamma ray observatory was gro chara center for high angular resolution astronomy cirris cryogenic infrared radiance instrument for shuttle cit circumstellar imaging telescope cm command module apollo spacecraft cmcc central mission control centre esa cnes centre national d etude spatiales cno carbon nitrogen oxygen cnsr comet nucleus sample return cobe cosmic background explorer comptel compton telescope on cgro costar corrective optics space telescope axial replacement craf comet rendezvous asteroid flyby crres combined release radiation effects satellite csm command and service module apollo spacecraft cstc consolidated satellite test center usaf ctio cerro tololo interamerican observatory dcx delta clipper experimental ddcu dc to dc converter unit dfrf dryden flight research facility now adfrf dmsp defense meteorological satellite program dod department of defense sometimes dod doe department of energy dot department of transportation dscs defense satellite communications system dsn deep space network dsp defense support program usaf nro eafb edwards air force base ecs environmental control system edo extended duration orbiter egret energetic gamma ray experiment telescope on cgro ejasa electronic journal of the astronomical society of the atlantic elv expendable launch vehicle emu extravehicular mobility unit eos earth observing system ers earth resources satellite as in ers esa european space agency eso european southern observatory et shuttle external tank etla extended three letter acronym etr eastern test range euv extreme ultraviolet euve extreme ultraviolet explorer eva extravehicular activity faq frequently asked questions fast fast auroral snapshot explorer fft fast fourier transform fgs fine guidance sensors on hst fhst fixed head star trackers on hst fir far infrared fits flexible image transport system foc faint object camera on hst fos faint object spectrograph on hst frr flight readiness review ftp file transfer protocol fts flight telerobotic servicer fuse far ultraviolet spectroscopic explorer fwhm full width at half maximum fyi for your information gas get away special gbt green bank telescope gcvs general catalog of variable stars gem giotto extended mission geo geosynchronous earth orbit gds great dark spot ghrs goddard high resolution spectrograph on hst gif graphics interchange format glomr global low orbiting message relay gmc giant molecular cloud gmrt giant meter wave radio telescope gmt greenwich mean time also called ut goes geostationary orbiting environmental satellite gox gaseous oxygen gpc general purpose computer gps global positioning system gro gamma ray observatory now cgro grs gamma ray spectrometer on mars observer grs great red spot gsc guide star catalog for hst gsfc goddard space flight center nasa gto geostationary transfer orbit hao high altitude observatory hd henry draper catalog entry heao high energy astronomical observatory hera hermes robotic arm hf high frequency hga high gain antenna hlc heavy lift capability hlv heavy lift vehicle hmc halley multicolor camera on giotto hr hertzsprung russell diagram hri high resolution imager on rosat hsp high speed photometer on hst hst hubble space telescope hut hopkins ultraviolet telescope astro package hv high voltage iappp international amateur professional photoelectric photometry iau international astronomical union iauc iau circular ice international cometary explorer ida international dark sky association idl interactive data language igm intergalactic medium igy international geophysical year imho in my humble opinion iota infrared optical telescope array iota international occultation timing association ips inertial pointing system ir infrared iraf image reduction and analysis facility iras infrared astronomical satellite isas institute of space and astronautical science japan ism interstellar medium iso infrared space observatory iso international standards organization ispm international solar polar mission now ulysses isy international space year iue international ultraviolet explorer ius inertial upper stage jem japanese experiment module for ssf jgr journal of geophysical research jila joint institute for laboratory astrophysics jpl jet propulsion laboratory jsc johnson space center nasa kao kuiper airborne observatory kpno kitt peak national observatory ksc kennedy space center nasa ktb cretaceous tertiary boundary from german lanl los alamos national laboratory larc langley research center nasa ldef long duration exposure facility lem lunar excursion module a k a lm apollo spacecraft leo low earth orbit lerc lewis research center nasa lest large earth based solar telescope lfsa list of frequently seen acronyms lga low gain antenna lgm little green men lh liquid hydrogen also lh or lhx llnl lawrence livermore national laboratory lm lunar module a k a lem apollo spacecraft lmc large magellanic cloud ln liquid n nitrogen lox liquid oxygen lrb liquid rocket booster lsr local standard of rest ltp lunar transient phenomenon mb manned base mcc mission control center meco main engine cutoff mmh monomethyl hydrazine mmt multiple mirror telescope mmu manned maneuvering unit mnras monthly notices of the royal astronomical society moc mars observer camera on mars observer mol manned orbiting laboratory mola mars observer laser altimeter on mars observer momv manned orbital maneuvering vehicle motv manned orbital transfer vehicle mpc minor planets circular mrsr mars rover and sample return mrsrm mars rover and sample return mission msfc george c marshall space flight center nasa mtc man tended capability naca national advisory committee on aeronautics became nasa nasa national aeronautics and space administration nasda national space development agency japan nasm national air and space museum nasp national aerospace plane nbs national bureau of standards now nist ndv nasp derived vehicle nerva nuclear engine for rocket vehicle application ngc new general catalog nicmos near infrared camera multi object spectrometer hst upgrade nims near infrared mapping spectrometer on galileo nir near infrared nist national institute for standards and technology was nbs nldp national launch development program noaa national oceanic and atmospheric administration noao national optical astronomy observatories nrao national radio astronomy observatory nro national reconnaissance office ns neutron star nsa national security agency nsf national science foundation nso national solar observatory nssdc national space science data center ntr nuclear thermal rocket ry ntt new technology telescope oao orbiting astronomical observatory ocst office of commercial space transportation omb office of management and budget oms orbital maneuvering system opf orbiter processing facility orfeus orbiting and retrievable far and extreme ultraviolet spectrometer osc orbital sciences corporation oscar orbiting satellite carrying amateur radio ossa office of space science and applications osse oriented scintillation spectrometer experiment on cgro ota optical telescope assembly on hst othb over the horizon backscatter otv orbital transfer vehicle ov orbital vehicle pam payload assist module pam d payload assist module delta class pi principal investigator plss portable life support system pm pressurized module pmc permanently manned capability pmirr pressure modulated infrared radiometer on mars observer pmt photomultiplier tube psf point spread function psr pulsar pv photovoltaic pvo pioneer venus orbiter qso quasi stellar object rci rodent cage interface for sls mission rcs reaction control system rem rat enclosure module for sls mission rf radio frequency rfi radio frequency interference riacs research institute for advanced computer science rms remote manipulator system rngc revised new general catalog rosat roentgen satellite rous rodents of unusual size i don t believe they exist rsn real soon now rtg radioisotope thermoelectric generator rtls return to launch site shuttle abort plan saa south atlantic anomaly saga solar array gain augmentation for hst sampex solar anomalous and magnetospheric particle explorer sao smithsonian astrophysical observatory sar search and rescue sar synthetic aperture radar sara satellite pour astronomie radio amateur sarex search and rescue exercise sarex shuttle amateur radio experiment sas space activity suit sas space adaptation syndrome sat synthetic aperture telescope s c spacecraft sca shuttle carrier aircraft sct schmidt cassegrain telescope sdi strategic defense initiative sdio strategic defense initiative organization sei space exploration initiative sest swedish eso submillimeter telescope seti search for extraterrestrial intelligence sid sudden ionospheric disturbance sir shuttle imaging radar sirtf space formerly shuttle infrared telescope facility sl spacelab slar side looking airborne radar slc space launch complex sls space lab life sciences smc small magellanic cloud sme solar mesosphere explorer smex small explorers smm solar maximum mission sn supernova e g sn a snr signal to noise ratio snr supernova remnant snu solar neutrino units sofia stratospheric observatory for infrared astronomy soho solar heliospheric observatory span space physics and analysis network spdm special purpose dextrous manipulator spot systeme probatoire pour l observation de la terre sps solar power satellite srb solid rocket booster srm solid rocket motor ssf space station fred er freedom ssi solid state imager on galileo ssi space studies institut ssme space shuttle main engine sspf space station processing facility ssrms space station remote manipulator system sst spectroscopic survey telescope sst supersonic transport ssto single stage to orbit stis space telescope imaging spectrometer to replace foc and ghrs sts shuttle transport system or space transportation system stsci space telescope science institute swas submillimeter wave astronomy satellite swf shortwave fading tal transatlantic abort landing shuttle abort plan tau thousand astronomical unit mission tcs thermal control system tdrs tracking and data relay satellite tdrss tracking and data relay satellite system tes thermal emission spectrometer on mars observer tiros television infrared observation satellite tla three letter acronym toms total ozone mapping spectrometer tps thermal protection system tss tethered satellite system uars upper atmosphere research satellite ubm unpressurized berthing mechanism udmh unsymmetrical dimethyl hydrazine ufo unidentified flying object ugc uppsala general catalog uhf ultra high frequency uit ultraviolet imaging telescope astro package ukst united kingdom schmidt telescope usaf united states air force usmp united states microgravity payload ut universal time a k a gmt utc or zulu time utc coordinated universal time a k a ut uv ultraviolet uvs ultraviolet spectrometer 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 vlba very long baseline array vlbi very long baseline interferometry vlf very low frequency vlt very large telescope vms vertical motion simulator voir venus orbiting imaging radar superseded by vrm vpf vertical processing facility vrm venus radar mapper now called magellan wd white dwarf wfpc wide field planetary camera on hst wfpcii replacement for wfpc wiyn wisconsin indiana yale noao telescope wsmr white sands missile range wtr western test range wuppe wisconsin ultraviolet photopolarimter experiment astro package xmm x ray multi mirror xuv extreme ultraviolet yso young stellar object usr bin perl alt an acronym scrambling program by larry wall threshold srand while next unless a z s key acro key words split w unshift words key off foreach word words next unless word a z w vec w word off foreach letter a z w letter w keys w if w threshold d egrep letter usr dict words chop d push w d foreach key sort keys acro off acro acro key acro s a z a z a z pick off eg print key acro sub pick local letter prefix oldword off i if length prefix index key prefix if prefix eq oldword prefix else prefix letter if length prefix local w substr prefix do word w rand w until word ne oldword word prefix i i word s prefix prefix i word elsif length prefix local w prefix do word w rand w until word ne oldword vec w word off i word u l word if word tr a z a z word else local w substr oldword do word w rand w until word ne oldword word tr a z a z i word mark bradford bradfrd ncar ucar edu to err is human to moo bovine it s an ill wind that gathers no moss
