Return-path: X-Andrew-Authenticated-as: 7997;andrew.cmu.edu;Ted Anderson Received: from hogtown.andrew.cmu.edu via trymail for +dist+/afs/andrew.cmu.edu/usr11/tm2b/space/space.dl@andrew.cmu.edu (->+dist+/afs/andrew.cmu.edu/usr11/tm2b/space/space.dl) (->ota+space.digests) ID ; Tue, 30 Apr 91 02:00:26 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: Precedence: junk Reply-To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU From: space-request+@Andrew.CMU.EDU To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU Date: Tue, 30 Apr 91 02:00:21 -0400 (EDT) Subject: SPACE Digest V13 #482 SPACE Digest Volume 13 : Issue 482 Today's Topics: Three-Letter Acronym (TLA) Update Program (UP) Administrivia: Submissions to the SPACE Digest/sci.space should be mailed to space+@andrew.cmu.edu. Other mail, esp. [un]subscription requests, should be sent to space-request+@andrew.cmu.edu, or, if urgent, to tm2b+@andrew.cmu.edu ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 29 Apr 91 18:05:58 GMT From: agate!bionet!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!thunder.mcrcim.mcgill.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!IRO.UMontreal.CA!matrox!uvm-gen!kira!news@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Garrett A. Wollman) Subject: Three-Letter Acronym (TLA) Update Program (UP) ****** This edition's special message... I would like to hear from people who know about the Japanese, European, and Soviet programs about more acronyms unique to those organizations... Also, do you think I should post to sci.space.shuttle in addition to sci.space? ****** This message is periodically posted to the newsgroup sci.space in an effort to make NASAspeak understandable to the general reader. The primary purpose is a repository for space-related acronyms; however, I reserve the right to make non-acronymic entries at any time. Just the same, this document does not attempt to cover any issues in-depth; for more information, you will probably want to read the FAQ, posted by leech@vangogh.cs.unc.edu, which also comes out about once a month. The title of this posting comes from an April-fools' spoof of Peter Yee's "NASA Headline News" postings; I believe that this is in the archive at Ames. As it turns out, the title given there is not exactly as I had remembered it, but I will keep this title as is. Many of the descriptions here are from the NASA Mixed Fleet Manifest dated February 1991. Others are blatantly stolen from Mark Bradford's acronym posting, which is somewhat shorter; these entries are marked with a splat (`*'). His posting has a somewhat different scope than mine; he also includes material intended more towards sci.astro, whereas I have chosen to exclude this material. If there is enough demand, I might add some. Don't forget that there are 17,576 TLAs possible; get yours in soon! Thanks to the following other individuals who made a contribution to this posting: Jonathan McDowell, Ron Graham, and Mary Shafer. A Three-Letter Acronym (TLA) is defined as follows (from The Jargon File 2.7.1, edited by Eric S. Raymond): TLA: /tee el ay/ [Three-Letter Acronym] n. 1. Self-describing acronym for a species with which computing terminology is infested. 2. Any confusing acronym at all. Examples include MCA, FTP, SNA, CPU, MMU, SCCS, DMU, FPU, TLA, NNTP. People who like this looser usage argue that not all TLAs have three letters, just as not all four-letter words have four letters. One also hears of `ETLA' (Extended Three Letter Acronym, pronounced /ee tee el ay/) being used to describe four-letter acronyms. The term `SFLA' (Stupid Four-Letter Acronym) has also been reported. See also {YABA}. ===================== ===== A ===== ===================== AC: Atlas Centaur. ADFRF: Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility, formerly without the "Ames" as DFRF; this is still reflected in their Internet domain name (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. ACRV: Assured Crew Return Vehicle. Also, Astronaut Crew Return Vehicle.* 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. AW&ST: Aviation Week and Space Technology.* [Times? That's what I thought it was.] 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 ===== ===================== BBXRT: Broad Band X-Ray Telescope. One of the instruments flown on the ASTRO-I mission (STS-35). ===================== ===== C ===== ===================== 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. CIT: California Institute of Technology (CalTech) 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: Centre National d'Etude Spatiales. The French space agency. 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. CRRES: Combined Release / Radiation Effects Satellite.* This satellite releases materials while in orbit to study auroras and other geomagnetic interactions. CSM: Command and Service Module (Apollo spacecraft).* ===================== ===== D ===== ===================== 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. 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). DSN: The Deep Space Network. A network of ground stations used by NASA to collect data from space probes. ===================== ===== 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.) EDO: Extended Duration Orbiter.* A kit installed in an orbiter to extend mission time to 16 days. ELV: Expendable Launch Vehicle.* EMU: Extravehicular Mobility Unit.* EOS: Earth Observing System.* Also (formerly?) Electrophoresis Operations in Space. ESA: European Space Agency.* ET: (Shuttle) External Tank.* ETR: Eastern Test Range. The Atlantic Ocean, although sometimes applied to Cape Canaveral in particular. EVA: Extra-Vehicular Activity. That is, space-walk. ===================== ===== F ===== ===================== FOC: Faint Object Camera.* One of five scientific instruments on the HST. FOS: Faint Object Spectrograph.* One of five scientific instruments on the HST. 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).* GHRS: Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph.* One of five scientific instruments on the HST. GIF: Graphics Interchange Format.* GLOMR: Global Low-Orbiting Message Relay. A light DoD comsat. 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. 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. 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. ===================== ===== H ===== ===================== HEAO: High Energy Astronomical Observatory. HCI: Highes Communications, Inc. The largest US DOMSAT operator. HH: Hitchhicker (generally). Seen as HH-G and HH-M (for Goddard and Marshall, respectively). 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. 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. 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. ISAS: Institute of Space and Astronautical Science. One of Japan's two space agencies; this one does the science satellites. ISPM: International Solar Polar Mission. Former name for Ulysses. 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. ===================== ===== J ===== ===================== JEM: Japanese Experiment Module (for Fred).* 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 ===== ===================== KSC: Kennedy Space Center.* Located on beautiful Merritt Island in Florida. ===================== ===== L ===== ===================== LANL: Los Alamos National Laboratories. LaRC: NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va. LDEF: Long Duration Exposure Facility.* 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. LLNL: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories.* LOX: Liquid Oxygen, used as rocket fuel. LRB: Liquid Rocket Booster.* ===================== ===== M ===== ===================== MFPE: Misson From Planet Earth. One of the Augustine Commission's recommendations was for NASA to spend a small amount of money (the 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. MSFC: NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. Former home of Werner von Braun; now home of Jonathan McDowell and the SPACELINK bulletin board. MTC: Man-tended Capability. One of the conceived modes of operation for Fred. 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. 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.* NIST: National Institute for Standards and Technology (was NBS).* NOAA: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.* Also, a series of polar-orbiting weather satellites operated by NOAA. 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. NSF: National Science Foundation.* 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 ===== ===================== 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. 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. ===================== ===== R ===== ===================== ROSAT: ROentgen SATellite.* A joint German-US-UK X-ray observatory. 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. ===================== ===== S ===== ===================== 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. 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. 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.'' 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.* SPOT: 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.* SSF: Space Station Freedom.* See Fred. SSME: Space Shuttle Main Engine.* SSPO: Space Shuttle Program Office. 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. 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. ===================== ===== T ===== ===================== TDRS: Tracking and Data Relay Satellite.* TSS: Tethered Satellite System.* ===================== ===== U ===== ===================== UARS: Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite.* UIT: Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope. One of the instruments carried on the ASTRO-I (STS-35) shuttle mission. UoSAT: University of Surrey Satellite. An amateur radio satellite built at said university. USAF: United States Air Force. UT: Universal Time.* 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.* VOIR: Venus Orbiting Imaging Radar (superseded by VRM.*) VPF: Vertical Processing Facility. VRM: Venus Radar Mapper (now called Magellan).* ===================== ===== W ===== ===================== WF/PC: Wide Field / Planetary Camera.* One of five scientific instruments on the HST. WFPC-II: Replacement for the WP/PC.* WSMR: White Sands Missile Range. WTR: Western Test Range. Vandengerg 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. -- -- Garrett A. Wollman - wollman@griffin.uvm.edu Send contributions for Software Patents mailing list to softpats@uvmvm.uvm.edu ------------------------------ End of SPACE Digest V13 #482 *******************