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Glossary

       
   A
   AA   - Ad Astra (periodical)
   ABC  - American Broadcasting Companies
   ACRV - Assured Crew Return Vehicle
   AFB  - Air Force Base
   ALS  - Advanced Launch System
   ALDP - Advanced Launch Development Program
   android - an anthropomorphic (human in appearance) robot
   AU   - Astronomical Unit, the average distance from the earth
          to the sun = 149.59 million kilometers
   A.U. - AU
   AW   - Aviation Week and Space Technology (periodical)
   B
   B    - billion
   Baja - the western peninsula of Mexico
   BDB  - Big Dumb Booster
   BeH  - Beryllium Hydride
   C
   c    - speed of light in a vacuum - about 3e+8 meters per second
   CBS  - Columbia Broadcasting System
   CIS  - Commonwealth of Independent States
   CFD  - Computational Fluid Dynamics
   cm   - centimeter = 0.01 meters
   CNN  - Cable News Network
   CPI  - Consumer Price Index
   CVD  - Chemical Vapor Deposition
   D
   D    - Deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen containing one proton
          and one neutron
   dv   - delta velocity
   Deimos - smaller outer satellite of Mars
   Delta V - dv, delta velocity
   E
   E    - East
   ecliptic - the path of the Earth's orbit around the Sun
   ELV  - Expendable Launch Vehicle
   EML  - electromagnetic launcher
   EMPL - electromagnetic projectile launcher
   ESA  - European Space Agency
   ET   - External Tank
   EVA  - Extra Vehicle (outside) Activity
   F
   F    - chemical symbol of Fluorine
   fps  - feet per second
   G
   g    - gravities, a multiple of earth's gravitational attraction
   G    - gravitation constant = 6.672E-11
   gees - gravities, a multiple of earth's gravitational attraction
   GAO  - General Accounting Office, Washington D.C.
   GD   - General Dynamics, US corporation
   GE   - General Electric, US corporation
   gees - gravities, a multiple of earth's gravitational attraction
   GEO  - Geostationary Earth Orbit
   GJ   - gigajoule = 1,000,000,000 joules
   GW   - gigawatts = 1,000,000,000 watts
   H
   H    - chemical symbol of Hydrogen
   H-2  - Japanese heavy booster
   harvest index - the fraction of a crop which is edible
   He   - Helium
   HEO  - High Earth Orbit
   HF   - Hydrogen Fluoride
   HLV  - Heavy Lift Vehicle
   HLLV - Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle
   Hotol- Horizontal take-off and landing
   Hytex- Hypersonic Technology Experiment
   I
   I    - rotational inertia
   ignition temperature - the lowest temperature at which a reaction
          can begin
   Io   - innermost of the four Galilean satellites of Jupiter
   IUS  - Inertial Upper Stage
   J
   J    - Joule, the unit of energy equal to 2.778E-7 kw-hr.
   JPL  - Jet Propulsion Laboratory
   JSC  - Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas
   K
   K    - chemical symbol of Potassium
   K    - thousand
   kg   - kilogram = 1000 grams
   Kg   - a thousand times earth's gravity = 9800 m/s/s
   kilogram = 2.2 pounds
   km   - kilometer = 1000 meters
   KSC  - Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida
   kw   - kilowatt = 1000 watts
   L
   LANL - Los Alamos National Laboratory
   LB1  - 'Lunar Bases and Space Activities of the 21st Century'
   LEMDE- Lunar Excursion Module Descent Engine
   LEO  - Low Earth Orbit
   LH2  - liquid hydrogen
   LLNL - Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
   LLO  - Low Lunar Orbit
   LMO  - Low Martian Orbit
   LOX  - liquid oxygen
   LPO  - Lunar Polar Orbit or Lunar Polar Observer
   LSL  - Lunar Slide Lander
   M
   m    - meter
   M    - million or mass
   Mach - multiple of the speed of sound
   Mag-Lev - Magnetic Levitation
   mare - "sea", a flat dark area on the Moon (without water)
   maria- plural of mare
   MBB  - Messerschmitt-Boelkow-Blohm, German aerospace corporation
   MESUR- Martian Environmental Survey
   MHD  - Magnetohydrodynamics
   mi   - mile = 1609 meters
   mil-spec - military specification
   min  - minutes, there are 60 minutes in a degree
   Mir  - 'peace', a Soviet space station
   MJ   - megajoule = 1,000,000 joules
   mm   - milimeter = 0.001 meters
   MO   - Mars Observer
   MPV  - Multi-purpose Vehicle
   mr   - millirads
   MT   - metric ton = 1000 kg = 1,000,000 grams
   Mw   - megawatt = 1,000,000 watts
   MW   - megawatt = 1,000,000 watts
   N
   N    - North
   NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration
   NASP - National Aerospace Plane
   NBC  - National Broadcasting Company
   NLS  - National Launch System (see ALDP)
   nm   - nanometers = billionths of a meter
   NEP  - Nuclear Electric Propulsion
   NTP  - Nuclear Thermal Propulsion
   O
   OMS  - Orbital Maneuvering System
   OPEC - Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
   OTA  - Office of Technology Assessment, Washington D.C.
   OTV  - Orbital Transfer Vehicle
   OV   - Orbital Vehicle
   P
   P    - chemical symbol of Phosphorus
   Phobos - larger inner satellite of Mars
   PLS  - Personnel Launch System
   positron - an anti-electron
   ppb  - parts per billion
   ppm  - parts per million
   PRC  - People's Republic of China
   psf  - per square foot
   R
   r    - radius
   R&D  - research and development
   regolith - the soil of the Moon
   rem  - roentgen equivalent man
   RLV  - Recoverable Launch Vehicle
   RP-1 - Rocket Propellant # 1, a kerosene-like fuel
   rpm  - revolutions per minute
   S
   S    - South
   SDHLV- Shuttle Derived Heavy Lift Vehicle
   SDI  - Strategic Defense Initiative
   SDIO - Strategic Defense Initiative Organization
   SEI  - Space Exploration Initiative
   SETI - Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
   sidereal - relative to the fixed stars
   skyhook - a cable hanging down from a satellite
   specific impulse - the number of seconds that one pound of propellant
          would burn while producing one pound of thrust
   SSME - Space Shuttle Main Engine
   SSTO - Single Stage To Orbit
   STME - Space Transportation Main Engine
   STS  - Space Transportation System
   SWAG - Scientific wild ass guess
   T
   T    - Tritium, an isotope of hydrogen containing one proton
          and two neutrons
   TBS  - Tokyo Broadcasting System or Turner Broadcasting System
   TI   - Texas Instruments, US electronics corporation
   TOS  - Transfer Orbit Stage
   U
   U    - University
   UC   - University of California
   UDMH - Unsymmetrical Dimethylhydrazine
   UK   - United Kingdom
   US   - United States
   USDA - US Department of Agriculture
   USGPO- US Government Printing Office
   V
   V    - velocity
   VP   - Vice President
   W
   W    - West
   w    - watt, the unit of power
   WAG  - wild ass guess
   Y
   yield- amount of crop harvested per unit area
   yr   - year