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AOS
acquisition of signal (form a spacecraft).
APT
automatic picture transmission (from weather satellites).
APU
auxiliary power unit, devised on Space Shuttle that provides power to gimbal
the main engines.
ARC
Arms Research Centre.
ASAT
anti-satellite, i.e. a missile or other weapon to shoot down a satellite.
ASTP
Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, the joint mission in which an
American Apollo in orbit with a Soviet Soyuz in July 1975.
ATS
Applications Technology Satellite, a series of six NASA satellites that
tried out new equipment for communications and weather satellites in
geostationary orbit.
CAPCOM
capsule communicator, an astronaut at mission control who talks to
astronauts abroad a spacecraft.
CM
command module.
CSM
command and service modules(of the Apollo spacecraft)
DSN
Deep Space Network.
EAFB
Edwards Air Force Base.
ECS
(1) European Communications Satellite; (2) environment control system, i.e.
to control the conditions inside a manned spacecraft.
EL
entry interface.
EMU
extravehicular mobility unit.
ESA
European Space Agency.
ESSA
a series of weather satellites owned by the Environmental
Science Service Administration on the United States.
ET
(1) External Thank; (2) extraterrestrial, i.e. not of
this Earth.
ETR
Eastern Test Range.
EURECA
European retrievable carrier, a frame to which equipment
could be fixed and left in orbit, to be picked up again later by the Space
Shuttle.
EVA
Extravehicular activity.
FOBS
fractional orbit bombardment system, a Soviet space
weapon.
GAS
gateway special.
GEO
geostationary Earth orbit.
GLOW
gross lift-off weight, i.e. the weight of rockets at
launch including fuel, payload, etc.
GOES
Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite,
serves of American weather satellites in geostationary orbit.
GPS
global positioning system, a system of navigation using
Navstar satellites.
GSFC
Goddard Space Flight Centre.
GTO
geostationary transfer orbit.
HAC
heading alignment cylinder.
HEAO
High Energy Astronomy Observatory.
HST
Hubble Space Telescope.
ICBM
intercontinentale ballistic missile.
IMU
inertial measurement unit.
IRAS
Infra Red Astronomy Satellite.
IRBM
intermediate range ballistic missile.
ISEE
international Sun-Earth
Explorer.
IUE
International Ultraviolet Explorer.
IUS
Inertial Upper Stage.
JPL
Jhonson Space Centre.
KSC
Kennedy Space Centre.
LDEF
Long Duration Exposure Facility, a large satellite to
which instruments and experiments are fixed; it is left in orbit by Space
Shuttle and brought back to Earth after several months.
LEO
low Earth orbit, e.g. the hight reached by the Space
Shuttle.
LM
lunar module.
LOS
loss of signal (from a spacecraft).
LOX
liquid oxygen, the usual oxidizer for the rockets.
LRV
lunar roving vehicle.
MCC
mission control center.
MECO
main engine cut-off (the racket during launch).
MET
mission elapsed time, i.e. time since a spacecraft was
launched.
MMS
multi-mission modular spacecraft.
MMU
manned manoeuvring unit.
MSFC
Marshall Space Flight Centre.
NASA
National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
NASCOM
NASA communications network, worldwide system of
communications, centred on Goddard Space Flight Centre.
NERVA
nuclear engine for rocket vehicle application, a nuclear
rocket that NASA tried to build in the 1960s but which was never completed.
NOAA
a series of weather satellites owned by the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States.
OAO
Orbiting Astronomical Observatory.
OMS
orbital manoeuvring system.
OSO
Orbiting Solar Observatory
PAM
Payload Assist Module.
PLBD
payload bay doors ( of the space)
PLSS
portable life-support system.
RCS
reaction control system.
RFNA
red fuming nitric acid, an oxidizer used in liquid-fuel
rockets.
RMS
remote manipulator system.
S-IB
the first stage of a Saturn IB rocket.
S-IC
the first stage of a Saturn V rocket.
S-II
the second stage of a Saturn V rocket.
S-IVB
the second stage of a Saturn IB rocket, and the third
stage of a Saturn V rocket.
SAS
Small Astronomy Satellite.
SM
service module.
SMM
Solar Maximum Mission.
SPS
(1) service propulsion system; (2) solar power
satellite.
SRB
Solid Rocket Booster.
SSME
Space Shuttle main engine.
SSUS
spinning solid upper state.
STDN
Space Tracking and Data Network.
STS
Space Transportation system.
TACAN
tactical air navigation.
TAEM
terminal area energy management.
TDRS
Tracking and Data Relay Satellite.
TIG
time of ignition, i.e. of a rocket engine.
UDMH
unsymmetrical dimethyl hydrazine, a liquid fuel for
rockets.
VAB
Vehicle Assembly Building, a large building at Kennedy
Space Centre where rockets are prepared for launch.
VAFB
Vandenberg Air Force Base.
WI
Wallops Island.
WTR
Western Test Range.
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