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From: tla@surly.org (Mark Bradford)
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Subject: Astro/Space Frequently Seen Acronyms
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Changes followed by "|".

Acronym List for Space and Astronomy
As of 2009 April 14

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.

The canonical version of this list is the HTML form, available at
http://tla.surly.org/ . From that, I generate the text form for USENET
posting.

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 90 days. All
comments regarding it are welcome; I'm reachable at tla@surly.org.
NOTE: Due to the high level of spam I receive, you must include the
text "tla" in the Subject header of your e-mail, or I will never see
your message.

Note that this list 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;
these acronyms appear on multiple lines.

Thanks to everybody who's sent suggestions since the first version of
the list!

PS: Strictly speaking, most of these are "initialisms" or
"abbreviations" rather than "acronyms"; pedantically, it's only an
"acronym" if you make a word out of it, like "laser" or "radar." In
practice, though, everybody calls 'em acronyms.

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
AD:        Analog to Digital
ADFRF:     Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility (now DFRC) (NASA)
AFAIK:     As Far As I Know
AGN:       Active Galactic Nucleus
AGU:       American Geophysical Union
AIAA:      American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
AIPS:      Astronomical Image Processing System
AIT:       Assembly, Integration, and Testing
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)
AOA:       Angle Of Attack
AOCS:      Attitude and Orbit Control System
Ap.J:      Astrophysical Journal
APL:       Applied Physics Laboratory (at Johns Hopkins)
APM:       Attached Pressurized Module (a.k.a. Columbus)
APU:       Auxiliary Power Unit
ARC:       Ames Research Center (NASA)
ARC:       Astrophysical Research Consortium
ARTEMIS:   Advanced Relay TEchnology MISsion
ASA:       Astronomical Society of the Atlantic
ASC:       Agence Spatiale Canadienne (also CSA)
ASI:       Agenzia Spaziale Italiana
ASP:       Astronomical Society of the Pacific
ASRM:      Advanced Solid Rocket Motor
ATDRS:     Advanced Tracking and Data Relay Satellite
ATLAS:     Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science
ATM:       Amateur Telescope Maker
ATM:       Apollo Telescope Mount (on Skylab)
ATO:       Abort To Orbit
ATV:       Automated Transfer Vehicle
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
BAe:       British Aerospace (now BAE SYSTEMS)
BATSE:     Burst And Transient Source Experiment (on CGRO)
BBXRT:     Broad-Band X-Ray Telescope (ASTRO package)
BDB:       Big Dumb Booster
BEM:       Bug-Eyed Monster
BH:        Black Hole
BIMA:      Berkeley Illinois Maryland Array
BIS:       British Interplanetary Society
BMDO:      Ballistic Missile Defense Office (was SDIO)
BNSC:      British National Space Centre
BTW:       By The Way
CARA:      Center for Astrophysical Research in Antarctica
C&T:       Communications & Tracking
CATS:      Cheap Access To Space
CCAFS:     Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
CCAS:      Cape Canaveral Air Station (now once again CCAFS)
CCD:       Charge-Coupled Device
CCDS:      Centers for the Commercial Development of Space
CD-ROM:    Compact Disc Read-Only Memory
CFA:       Center For Astrophysics
CFC:       ChloroFluoroCarbon
CFF:       Columbus Free Flyer
CFHT:      Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope
CFIT:      Controlled Flight Into Terrain
CG:        Center of Gravity
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)
CM:        Center of Mass
CMBR:      Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation
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
COTS:      Commercial (or Cheap) Off The Shelf
CRAF:      Comet Rendezvous / Asteroid Flyby
CRRES:     Combined Release / Radiation Effects Satellite
CSA:       Canadian Space Agency (also ASC)
CSM:       Command and Service Module (Apollo spacecraft)
CSTC:      Consolidated Space Test Center (USAF)
CTB:       Cargo Transfer Bag
CTIO:      Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory
CV:        Cataclysmic Variable
CXBR:      Cosmic X-ray Background Radiation
DC:        Delta Clipper
DCX:       Delta Clipper eXperimental
DDCU:      DC-to-DC Converter Unit
DDTE:      Design, Development, Test, and Evaluation
DFRC:      Dryden Flight Research Center
DFRF:      Dryden Flight Research Facility (was ADFRF, now DFRC)
DMSP:      Defense Meteorological Satellite Program
DOD:       Department Of Defense (sometimes DoD)
DOE:       Department Of Energy
DOT:       Department Of Transportation
DRS:       Data Relay Satellite
DRS:       Direct Receiving Station
DSO:       Deep Sky (or Space) Object
DSCS:      Defense Satellite Communications System
DSN:       Deep Space Network
DSP:       Defense Support Program (USAF/NRO)
EAC:       European Astronaut Centre
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
ER:        Eastern Range (was ETR)
ERS:       Earth Resources Satellite (as in ERS-1)
ESA:       European Space Agency
ESIS:      European Space Information System
ESO:       European Southern Observatory
ESOC:      European Space Operations Centre
ESTEC:     European Space Research & Technology Centre
ET:        (Shuttle) External Tank
ETLA:      Extended Three Letter Acronym
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