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Date: Fri,  5 Apr 91 01:54:55 -0500 (EST)
Subject: SPACE Digest V13 #360

SPACE Digest                                     Volume 13 : Issue 360

Today's Topics:
	    Three-Letter Acronym (TLA) Update Program (UP)

Administrivia:

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Date: 1 Apr 91 19:50:22 GMT
From: agate!bionet!uwm.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!samsung!olivea!bbn.com!nic!kira!news@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU  (Garrett A. Wollman)
Subject: Three-Letter Acronym (TLA) Update Program (UP)

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.

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 (`*').

Thanks to the following other individuals who made a contribution to
this posting:  Jonathan McDowell.

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.

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.*

AXAF: Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility.*  One of NASA's "Great
Observatories" along with HST, GRO, and (??)

=====================
=====     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.
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.

CNES: Centre National d'Etude Spatiales.  The French space agency.

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.

DFRF: Dryden Flight Research Facility.  Another research center
located at Moffett Field, Calif.  Home of Mary Shafer and lots of
obsolete research aircraft.

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).

=====================
=====     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 missin time to 16 days.

ELV: Expendable Launch Vehicle.*

EOS: Earth Observing System.*

EMU: Extravehicular Mobility Unit.*

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).

=====================
=====     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.

GRO: Gamma Ray Observatory.*

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     =====
=====================

HCI: The largest US DOMSAT operator.

HST: Hubble Space Telescope.*

HSP: High Speed Photometer.  One of five scientific instruments on the
Hubble Space Telescope.

=====================
=====     I     =====
=====================

IMAX: Not really an acronym.  IMAX Systems Corp. provides NASA with
two large-format motion-picture cameras, for both scientific and
moviemaking purposes.

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.

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     =====
=====================

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.

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. [where is this?]

LLNL: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories.*

LOX: Liquid Oxygen, used as rocket fuel.

LRB: Liquid Rocket Booster.*

=====================
=====     M     =====
=====================

MSFC: NASA Marshall Space Flight Center.  [where is this?]

=====================
=====     N     =====
=====================

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.*

=====================
=====     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.

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.

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.

=====================
=====     S     =====
=====================

SAREX: Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment.

SDIO: Strategic Defense Initiative Organization.

SETI: Search for extraterrestrial intelligence.*

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.

SIRTF: Space Infrared Telescope Facility.*

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.*

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.*

UoSAT: University of Surrey Satellite.  An amateur radio satellite
built at said university.

USAF: United States Air Force.

UT: Universal Time.*

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.*)

VRM: Venus Radar Mapper (now called Magellan).*

=====================
=====     W     =====
=====================

WF/PC: Wide Field / Planetary Camera.*  One of five scientific
instruments on the HST.

WSMR: White Sands Missile Range.

WTR: Western Test Range.  Vandengerg AFB plus part of the Pacific
Ocean.

--
--
Garrett A. Wollman - wollman@griffin.uvm.edu

Send contributions for Software Patents mailing list to softpats@uvmvm.uvm.edu

------------------------------

End of SPACE Digest V13 #360
*******************