From: wollman@uvm.edu (Garrett A. Wollman)
Subject: Three-Letter Acronym (TLA) Update Program (UP)
Date: 1 Jun 92 04:39:29 GMT


=====
Please send your organization's acronyms to wollman@uvm.edu!
=====

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
Jon Leech of UNC, 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.  Still others (some questionable ones are
marked [EOS]) are from Hughes' booklet ``EOSDIS Abbreviations and
Acronym List''; some of these may not exist, and some may never exist
ever.  But remember, you saw it here first.

If anyone can elaborate (up to about three lines) on any of the
one-line entries posted here, please send me that information.  Just
because I wrote down the expansion doesn't mean that I have the
slightest idea what it's for (unless I have already elaborated on it).

Thanks to the following other individuals who made a contribution to
this posting: Kelly Beatty, J. Bessant, Eric Borm, Daniel Fischer,
Christopher Graham, Ron Graham, Sean Graves, Sam Ho, Ken Hollis, Ken
Jenks, Ralf Kloth, G. W. Leppelmeier, John Limpert, Mark Maimone,
Richard Murphy, Perry Ramsey, Mike Salmon, Jeff Scrutton, Bob
Schaefer, Rob Seaman, Mary Shafer, Allen Sherzer, Glenn Stone, Camille
Trentacoste, Christopher Warack, Stephen Watson, and Richard Wolff;
this includes people who have posted articles in sci.space or
space-tech.  Special thanks to Jonathan McDowell and to Peter Yee.

This document is archived in the following places:
       o The SPACE archives at NASA Ames
(ames.arc.nasa.gov:~ftp/pub/SPACE/MISC/acronyms-MonthYR.txt).
       o The USENET FAQ archives at pit-manager.mit.edu (in
/pub/usenet/sci.space and by Prospero under
/archive-sites/pit-manager.mit.edu/pub/usenet/sci.space) 

Thanks to Jonathan Kamens for the archive.  I'm trying to get WAIS
running here at UVM; watch this space for details.

A Three-Letter Acronym (TLA) is defined as follows (from The Jargon
File 2.9.1, edited by Eric S. Raymond):

TLA: /T-L-A/ [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}.

   The self-effacing phrase "TDM TLA" (Too Damn Many...) is often
   used to bemoan the plethora of TLAs in use.  In 1989, a random of
   the journalistic persuasion asked hacker Paul Boutin "What do you
   think will be the biggest problem in computing in the 90s?"
   Paul's straight-faced response: "There are only seventeen thousand
   3-letter acronyms." (Actually, there are 26^3 = 17,576)


=====================
=====     A     =====
=====================

AACS: Attitude and Articulation Control Subsystem.

AC: Atlas Centaur.

ACF: Automated Control Function.

ACTS: Advanced Communications Technology Satellite.

ADFRF: Formerly, Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility, now
re-designated simply as DFRF (q.v.).  Before ADFRF, it was
DFRC---Dryden Flight Research Center.

ACR: Active Cavity Radiometer.

ACRIM: ACR Irradiance Monitor.  A scientific instrument used to study
the Sun's energy output.

ACRV: Assured Crew Return Vehicle.  Also, Astronaut Crew Return
Vehicle.*

ADEOS: [Japan] Advanced Earth Observing Satellite.

AEPI: Atmospheric Emissions Photometric Imaging.  A space plasma
physics experiment aboard STS-45.

AF: Air Force.

AFETR: USAF's ETR. qq.v.

AFGWC: Air Force Global Weather Center.

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.

AFPRO: Air Force Plan Representative Office.

AFRSI: Advanced FRSI.  A silica-fiber-based insulating blanket used in
low-temperature exterior areas of OV-103 and subsequent orbiters.

AFWTR: USAF's WTR.  qq.v.

AGE: Auxiliary Ground Equipment.

AIAA: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

AIRS: [EOS] Atmospheric Infrared Sounder.

ALAE: Atmospheric Lyman-Alpha Emissions.  An experiment aboard STS-45
to measure the abundance of hydrogen and deuterium in the atmosphere.

ALDP: Advanced Launch Development Program.

ALS: Advanced Launch System.

AMOS: Air Force Maui Optical System.

AMSR: [EOS] Advanced Microwave Sounding Radiometer.

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.

AOCS: Attitude and Orbit Control System.

APE: Auroral Photography Experiment.

APL: Applied Physics Laboratory.  A US-government supported research
institute operated as a unit of JHU, located in Maryland between
Baltimore and DC.

APM: Columbus Attached Pressurized Module.  The ESA contribution to
Fred.

APM: Atmospheric Particle Monitor.  A device which watches for
contamination of the shuttle cargo bay during launch.

APT: [Weather sats] Automatic Picture Transmission.

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.

ARISTOTELES: Applications and Research Involving Space Technologies
Observing the Earth's Field from Low Earth Orbiting Satellite.

ARRL: American Radio Relay League.  An amateur radio organization,
co-sponsors of SAREX.

ARTEMIS: Advanced Relay Technology Mission.  An ESA experimental
comsat, to be launched late in the 1990s.

ASA: Astronomical Society of the Atlantic.  Headquartered in Atlanta,
Georgia, this is the largest astronomical society in the southeastern
United States.

ASCO: Arab Satellite Communications Organization.  Based in Saudi
Arabia.

ASE: Advanced Space Engine.

ASEM: Assembly of Station by EVA Methods.  How Fred is supposed to be
assembled.

ASI: [Italian] Agenzia Spaziale Italiano.  The Italian space agency.

ASRM: Advanced Solid Rocket Motor.

ASS: Antenna Support Structure.

ASTER: [EOS] Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection.

ASTRO: Space astrophysics laboratory.  ASTRO-1 was flown aboard the
Shuttle in December of 1990; ASTRO-2 has been announced.  The
instruments in the ASTRO-2 package will be HUT, UIT, and WUPPE.

ATAL: Alternate Transoceanic Abort Landing.  See TAL.

ATCS: Active Thermal Control System.

ATDRS: Advanced Tracking and Data Relay Satellite.  See TDRS.

ATLAS: Atmospheric Laborarory for applications and Science.

ATMOS: Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy.  An experiment aboard
STS-45 to measure and map carbon dioxide and ozone, among others, in
the middle atmosphere.

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.

ATSR: Along Track Scanning Radiometer.

AURA: Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy.  One of
the university consortia which bid for government contracts to do
space and astronomy research.  AURA currently operates STScI and NOAO
(the latter under a ``cooperative agreement''), with funding from the
NSF (primarily) and the AF.  There are twenty-one members: U. Arizona,
U. California, U. Colorado, U. Hawaii, Indiana U., UMD, U. Michigan,
PSU, SUNY Stony Brook, U. Texas/Austin, U. Washington, CIT, U. Chicago,
Harvard, U. Illinois, JHU, MIT, OSU, Princeton, U. Wisconsin, and
Yale.

AVHRR: Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer.  One of the five
instruments aboard late-model TIROS-N class weather satellites.

AW&ST: Aviation Week and Space Technology.* 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     =====
=====================

BAe: British Aerospace.

BATSE: Burst and Transient Source Experiment.  An instrument aboard
GRO.

BBXRT: Broad Band X-Ray Telescope.  One of the instruments flown on
the ASTRO-I mission (STS-35).  BBXRT will *not* be part of ASTRO-II
(or at least, the announcement of ASTRO-I didn't mention it, and they
were considered separate packages).

BECO: Booster Engine Cutoff.  Part of the Atlas-E launch sequence.

BFC: Backup Flight Computer.

BFCS: Backup Flight Control System.

BFS: Backup Flight System.  The ``limp-home'' computer for the Shuttle.

BIMDA: Bioserve-Instrumentation Technology Associates Materials
Dispersion Analysis.  An experiment to study the feasibility of
commercial biomedical manufacturing in microgravity.

BMFT: [German] Bundesministerium fuer Forschung und Technologie.
Federal Ministry of Research and Technology.

BNSC: British National Space Center.

=====================
=====     C     =====
=====================

CADH: Communications and Data Handling.

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.

CCDS: Center for the Commercial Development of Space.

CCRS: Canada Centre for Remote Sensing.

CCSDS: Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems.

CDA: Command and Data Acquisition.

CDDT: Countdown demonstration Test.

CDS: Command and Data Subsystem.

CEA: Center for EUV Astrophysics.  Home of EUVE.

CERES: [EOS] Clouds and Earth's Radiant Energy System.

CETA: Crew and Equipment Translation Aid.

CFA: Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.  Current home of
Jonathan McDowell.

CFF: Columbus Free Flyer.

CFRP: Carbon Fibre Reinforced Plastic.

CHARA: Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy.  A research
center at Georgia State University.

CIRRIS: Cryogenic Infrared Radiance Instrument for Shuttle.

CIS: English translation of SNG, Commonwealth of Independent States.
(Not to be confused with the CompuServe Information Service addresses
that some people give.)

CIT: California Institute of Technology (CalTech)

CITE: Cargo Integration Test Equipment.  Used to test payloads before
they are installed in a Shuttle to be launched.

CLAES: Cryogenic Limb Array Etalon Spectrometer.  An instrument aboard
UARS which measures the concentrations of various compounds of
nitrogen and chlorine, as well as ozone, water vapor, and methane, by
measuring their infrared emissions.

CMCC: [ESA] Central Mission Control Centre.

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.

COMPTEL: (Imaging) Compton Telescope.

COMSAT: Communications Satellite.  Also Communications Satellite Corporation.

COSTAR: Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement.  How
to fix the HST.

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

CR: Correlation Radiometer.

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.

CREAM: Cosmic Radiation Effects and Activatiom Monitor.

CRIM: Commercial Refirgerator Incubator Module.

CRISTA: Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometer Telescope for Atmosphere.

CRL: [Japan] Communication Research Lab.

CRRES: Combined Release / Radiation Effects Satellite.*  This
satellite releases materials while in orbit to study auroras and other
geomagnetic interactions.

CSA: Canadian Space Agency.

CSIRO: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization.

CSM: Command and Service Module (Apollo spacecraft).*

CTIO: Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory.  The
southern-hemisphere operation of NOAO.

CYSF: Cape York (Australia) Space Facility.  Also CYSB (Base), CYSP
(Port).

CZCS: Coastal Zone Color Scanner.  An instrument aboard NIMBUS-7.

=====================
=====     D     =====
=====================

DAC: Delayed Action Command.

DACS: Data Acquisition and Control Subsystem.

DARA: [German] Deutsche Agentur fuer Raumfahrtangelegenheiten.  The
German Acency for Space Affairs.

DARPA: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

DC: Delta Clipper.  An SSTO concept by MDSSC.

DCA: Defense Communications Agency.  Now DISA.

DCCS: Dynamic Cell Culture System.  A purpose-built space bioreactor.

DC-X: DC Experimental.

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, formerly ADFRF (q.v.).  Their
Internet domain name is 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 and the last flying SR-71s.

DLR: [German] Deutsche Forschungsanstalt fuer Luft- und Raumfahrt.
German Aerospace Research Establishment.

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).

DOMSAT: Domestic Satellite (usually also a COMSAT).

DOR: Differenced One-way Range.

DOT: Department of Transportation.  [??] The agency which issues
permits for commercial launch vehicles.

DPSS: Data Processing Services Subsystem.

DRSS: [European] Data Relay Satellite System.

DSN: The Deep Space Network.  A network of ground stations used by
NASA to collect data from space probes.

DSO: Detailed Supplementary Objective.  These are payloads carried on
a Shuttle mission which are not large enough to get listed on their
own.  For example, the STS-44 mission had more than 250 pounds (150
kg) of DSOs.  [If the people who set these things up have acronyms for
them, I want to hear about them.]

DSP: Defense Support Program.

DSS: Deep Space Station.  A DSN antenna.  The numbering scheme is as
follows: 1x is at Goldstone, 4x is at Canberra, and 6x is at Madrid;
the 70-m antennas are 14, 43, and 63.

DSSC: Deep Space Station Complex.  A site on the DSN.

=====================
=====     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.)

EDC: EROS Data Center.

EDO: Extended Duration Orbiter.*  A kit installed in an orbiter to
extend mission time to 16 days.  Currently, Columbia and Endeavour are
the only orbiter vehicles capable of supporting the EDO package.

EDRS: European Data Relay Satellite.

EDS: Electronic Data Systems.  A US Aerospace/Electronics contractor.

EGRET: Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment Telescope.  An instrument aboard
GRO.

EJASA: Electronic Journal of the ASA.

ELDO: European Launcher Development Organisation.

ELV: Expendable Launch Vehicle.*

EMU: Extravehicular Mobility Unit.*

ENAC: Energetic Neutral Atom Camera.

ENACEOS: [EOS] ENAC for EOS.

ENAP: Energetic Neutral Atom Precipitation.  A space plasma physics
experiment aboard STS-45.

ENSO: El Ni~no/Southern Oscillation.  An occasional, temporary climate
change, involving changes in temperature distributions in the South
Pacific, which has far-reaching global effects (e.g., drought in
Africa, hurricanes in the Caribbean, etc.).

EODC: [UK] Earth Observation Data Centre.

EOS: Earth Observing System.*  Also (formerly?) Electrophoresis
Operations in Space.

EOSP: [EOS] Earth Observing Scanning Polarimeter.

EPD: Energetic Particles Detector.

ERBE: Earth Radiation Budget Experiment.

EROS: Earth Resources Observations System.

ERS: European Remote Sensing (Satellite).  An ESA satellite, of which
the first one, ERS-1, was launched in 1991.

ERS: Earth Resources Satellite.  Also, a NASDA remote sensing satellite to be
launched in 1992.

ERS: Environmental Research Satellite.  An light satellite launched in
the 1960s by USAF.

ESA: European Space Agency.*

ESOC: European Space Operations Centre.  Located in Darmstadt,
Germany; mission control for some ESA satellites.

ESIS: ESA Space Information Systems.

ESPC: European Space Power Conference.

ESRIN: European Space Research Institute.  Located in Frascati, Italy;
provides the ESA-QUEST database system, as a part of the ESA
information retrieval service.

ESRO: European Space Research Organisation.

ESTEC: European Space Research and Technology Centre.  Located in the Netherlands.

ET: (Shuttle) External Tank.*

ETE: End-to-End (Test).

ETM: Enhanced Thematic Mapper.

ETR: Eastern Test Range.  The Atlantic Ocean, although sometimes
applied to Cape Canaveral in particular.

EUMETSAT: European Meterological Satellite Organisation.

EURECA: European Retrievable Carrier.

EUTELSAT: European Telecommunications Satellite Organization.

EUV: Extreme Ultraviolet.

EUVE: Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer.  A NASA astronomy satellite
scheduled for launch in June 1992.

EVA: Extra-Vehicular Activity.  That is, space-walk.

=====================
=====     F     =====
=====================

FAP: Freedom attached payloads.

FBV: Fuel Bleed Valve.  A valve onthe Shuttle.

FEM: Flight-Engineering Model.

FFCC: Free-Flyer Control Centre.

FITS: Flexible Image Transport System.  An image interchange format
developed by the astronomy community.  There exist several tools for
dealing with this format; recent versions of PBM+ include `fitstopgm'
or `fitstopnm' (depending on the version).

FOC: Faint Object Camera.*  One of five scientific instruments on the HST.

FOLD: Federally-Owned LANDSAT Data.

FOS: Faint Object Spectrograph.*  One of five scientific instruments
on the HST.

FPD: Flight Projects Directorate.

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).

FRF: Flight Readiness Firing.

FRR: Flight Readiness Review.

FRSI: Flexible Reusable Surface Insulation.  a NOMEX-based insulating
material used on all Shuttles in low-temperature exterior locations,
such as the doors.

=====================
=====     G     =====
=====================

GAS: Get-Away Special.*

GDCLS: General Dynamics Commercial Launch Services.

GEO: Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (also GSO).*

GEODSS: Ground-based Electro-optical Deep-space Surveillance System.
A network of optical telescopes used by the US Space Command to track
objects in orbit, located in New Mexico, South Korea, Hawaii, and
Diego Garcia.

GEM: Giotto Extended Mission.

GEM: Graphite Epoxy Motor.  Strap-on solids used on the Delta 79**
rocket.

GHRS: Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph.*  One of five scientific
instruments on the HST.

GISS: Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

GLOMR: Global Low-Orbiting Message Relay.  A light DoD comsat.

GMS: Geostationary Meterological Satellite.

GNC: Guidance, Navigation, and Control.

GOMOS: Global Ozone Monitoring by Occultation of Stars.  An imaging
spectrometer to be flown on POEM-1.

GOMR: [EOS] Global Ozone Monitoring Radiometer.

GPC: General Purpose Computer.  A computer aboard the Shuttle.

GPPF: Gravitational Plant Physiology Facility.

GPS: Global Positioning System.  The Navstar navigation satellite
constellation.

GMT: Greenwich Mean Time.* It is numerically mostly identical to UTC
(Universal Time, Coordinated), but defined differently (Greenwich time
is defined by the mean solar time at the zero meridian).  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.

GOSAMR: Gelation of Soils: Applied Microgravity Research.

GGM: [Russian] Goskogidromet/Gidromettsentr.  State meteorological
agency.  [Is this Russian or CIS now?]

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.  Now the Arthur Holly Compton Gamma Ray
Observatory.  One of NASA's four Great Observatories, the others being
HST, AXAF, and SIRTF.

GRTLS: Glide RTLS.

GRU: [Russian] Glavnoye Razvedivatel'noye Upravileniye.  SNG Military
Intelligence.

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.

GUGK: [Russian] Glavnoye Upravileniye Geodesii i Kartografii.  Soviet
Geodesic and Cartographic satellite agency.  [Is this Russian or CIS?]

=====================
=====     H     =====
=====================

HAINS: High Accuracy Inertial Navigation System.

HALOE: Halogen Occultation Experiment.  This UARS instrument gathers a
verticle profile of atmospheric HF, HCl, CH4, CO2, O3, water vapor,
and nitrogen compounds.  Built by LaRC.

HCI: Highes Communications, Inc.  The largest US DOMSAT operator.

HCMM: Heat Capacity Mapping Mission.

HEAO: High Energy Astronomical Observatory.

Hera: Hermes Robotic Arm.

HGA: High-Gain Antenna.

HH: Hitchhiker (generally).  Seen as HH-G and HH-M (for Goddard and
Marshall, respectively).

HiRDLS: [EOS] High Resolution Dynamics Limb Sounder.

HIRIS: [EOS] High Resolution Imaging Spectrometer.

HIRS: High Resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder.  One of five
instruments aboard late-model TIROS-N class weather satellites.

HPFTP: High Pressure Fuel Turbopump.  One of the two types of pump in
the shuttle engines.

HPOTP: High Pressure Oxidizer Turbopump.  One of the two types of pump
in the shuttle engines.

HOTOL: Horizontal Takeoff and Landing.  Also the name of an ill-fated
British spaceplane effort.

HRDI: High Resolution Doppler Imager.  A UARS instrument which
measures wind speeds.  Built by UMich.

HRPT: [Weather sats] High Resolution Picture Transmission.

HRSC: High Resolution Stereo Camera.  A MARS 94 instrument.

HRSI: High-temperature Reusable Surface Insulation.  A rigid
silica-fiber-based insulation material.

HRSR: High-Resolution Scanning Radiometer.

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

IBSS: Infrared Background Signature Survey.

ICBC: IMAX Cargo Bay Camera.

IGBP: International Geosphere/Biosphere Programme.

IKI: [Russian] Institut Kosmischeskikh Issledovaniya.  Space Research
Institute, the Russian equivalent of JPL.

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.  IML-1 flew aboard STS-42, in
January 1992.

IMU: Inertial Measurement Unit.  Part of a triply-redundant navigation
subsystem on the Shuttle.

INCO: Integrated Communications Officer.

INMARSAT: International Maritime Satellite (organization).

INTELSAT: International Telecommunications Satellite (organization).

IOBM: In Ocean By Mistake.  A class of launch failure.

IPMP: Investigations into Polymer Membrane Processing.

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.

ISAMS: Improved Stratospheric and Mesospheric Sounder.  An instrument
aboard UARS used to study water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide
[can someone tell me the new nomenclature for this?], nitric acid,
ozone, methane, and carbon monoxide.  Built by Oxford University.

ISAS: Institute of Space and Astronautical Science.  One of Japan's
two space agencies; this one does the science satellites.

ISO: Imaging Spectrometic Observatory.

ISO: Infrared Space Observatory.  An ESA astronomy satellite to be
launched in 1994.

ISPM: International Solar Polar Mission.  Former name for Ulysses.

ISU: International Space University.  isu.isunet.edu on the Internet.

ISY: International Space Year.  1992.

ISZ: [Russian] Iskusstvenniy Sputnik Zemli.  Artificial Earth
Satellite.

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.

IVT: Interface Verification Test.

=====================
=====     J     =====
=====================

JAEL: JSC Avionics Engineering Laboratory.

JEM: Japanese Experiment Module (for Fred).*

JERS: Japanese Earth Resources Satellite.
 
JHU: Johns Hopkins University.

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

KB: [Russian].  Construction Bureau.  A Russian/CIS design bureau which
makes experimental spacecraft.  Sometimes seen as OKB (for
Experimental).  For example, KB Korolev designed the Sputnik, and has
since evolved into NPO Energiya.

KPNO: Kitt Peak National Observatory.  Part of NOAO.

KSC: Kennedy Space Center.*  Located on beautiful Merritt Island in Florida.

=====================
=====     L     =====
=====================

LAGEOS: Laser Geodynamics Satellite.

LANL: Los Alamos National Laboratories.

LaRC: NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va.

LASCO: Large Angle Spectrometric Coronograph.  An experiment aboard
SOHO.

LC: Launch Complex.

LDEF: Long Duration Exposure Facility.*

LEDA: [ESA] On-line Earthnet Data Access.

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.

LFC: Large Format Camera.  See IMAX.

LIS: [EOS] Lightning Imaging Sensor.

LLNL: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories.*

LN2: Liquid Nitrogen.

LOX: Liquid Oxygen, used as rocket fuel.

LRB: Liquid Rocket Booster.*

LRSI: Low-temperature Reusable Surface Insulation.  An external
insulating material used on shuttle orbiters. Between AFRSI and HRSI
in temperature range.

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

MACS: Modular Attitude Control System.  The first MACS flew on Solar
Max; the MACS in UARS is, in fact, the orginal MACS from Solar Max,
refurbished.

MARS: A new series of Soviet (Russian?) Mars spacecraft.

MAS: Millimeter-wave Atmospheric Sounder.  An instrument aboard STS-45
which measures light radiating from atmospheric water vapor, chlorine
monoxide, and ozone.

MBB: Messerschmitt-Bolkow-Blohm.

MDSSC: McDonnell Douglas Space Systems Corp.

MECO: Main Engine Cutoff.

MET: Mission Elapsed Time.

MEV: [SEI] Mars Excursion Vehicle.

MFPE: Misson From Planet Earth.  One of the Augustine Commission's
recommendations was for NASA to spend a small amount of money (the report
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.

MFV: Main Fuel Valve.  Shuttle.

MIMR: [EOS] Multifrequency Imaging Microwave Radiometer.

MITI: [Japan] Ministry of International Trade and Industry.

MISR: [EOS] Multiangle Imaging Spectro-Radiometer.

ML: Mobile Launcher.

MLI: Multi-Layer Insulation.  An insulating material composed of many
laters of metallized film.  Not particularly effective in air.

MLP: Mobile Launch Platform.  Shuttle launch hardware.

MLS: Microwave Limb Sounder.  An instrument aboard UARS used to map
concentrations of chlorine monoxide, ozone, and water vapor.  Built by
JPL.

MMCC: [European] Mission Management and Control Centre.

MMPO: [European] Mission Management and Planning Office.

MMS: Multi-mission Modular Spacecraft.  A standardized design for
scientific satellites.

MODE: Middeck Zero-Gravity Dynamics Experiment.

MODIS: [EOS] Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer.

MODIS-N: [EOS] MODIS - Nadir.

MODIS-T: [EOS] MODIS - Tilt.

MOPITT: [EOS] Measurements of Pollution in the Troposphere.

MPEC: Multi-Purpose Experiment Canister.

MPESS: Multiple Purpose Experiment Support Structure.

MRIR: Medium Resolution Infrared Radiometer.  An instrument on Nimbus
satellites.

MRO: Memory Read-Out.  Sending data from tape or RAM back to Earth.

MRSR: Mars Rover Sample Return.

MSFC: NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.  Former home
of Werner von Braun; now home of the SPACELINK bulletin board.

MSOCC: Multisatellite Operations Control Center.

MSS: Multispectral Scanner.  One of the instruments aboard certain
Landsats.

MSU: Microwave Sounding Unit.  One of the five instruments aboard
late-model TIROS-N class weather satellites.

MTC: Man-tended Capability.  One of the conceived modes of operation
for Fred.

MTFF: Columbus Man-Tended Free-Flyer.  A version of the APM which does
not depend on Fred, intended as a hedge for ESA against the
possibility of Fred cancellation.  It would be serviced by the Hermes
spaceplane.

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.

MVI: [IML] Microgravity Vestibular Investigation.

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

NACA: National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics.  This agency was
founded in 1916; it was renamed NASA in 1959.

NAS: Numerical Aerodynamic Simulation.  The US national supercomputing
center for aeronautics.  Home of Eugene ``Push for moderated
newsgroups'' Miya.

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).

NASM: National Air and Space Museum.  One of the Smithsonian
Institution's museums, located on The Mall in Washington, DC.

NASP: National AeroSpace Plane.*

NESDIS: National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service.

NGT: NASA Ground Terminal.  The interface between WSGT and GSFC.

NIMS: Near Infrared Mapping Spectrometer.  An instrument aboard
Galileo.

NIST: National Institute for Standards and Technology (was NBS).*
Home of John Roberts.

NOAA: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.*  Also, a
series of polar-orbiting weather satellites operated by NOAA.

NOAO: National Optical Astronomy Observatories.  A collection of
observatories managed by AURA (the same institution that operates
STScI) including KPNO, CTIO, and the NSO.  (Richard Wolff would like
me to emphasize that, while NOAO is run by AURA, the facilities are
*not* privately owned, and are operated for the purpose of providing
access to world-class instruments to the astronomical communuity.)

NOCC: Network Operations Control Center.

NORAD: North American Aerospace Defense Command.  Former name of the
US Space Command.

NPO: [Russian].  Scientific Production Organization.  A type of Russian
organization which can be roughly translated as `Corp.' or `Ltd.'  For
example, NPO Energiya, the Soviet agency in charge of piloted civil
space missions.  [Russian or CIS, I ask yet again?]

NPOE: [Russian].  NPO Energiya.

NPO-PM: [Russian].  NPO Prikladnoi Mekhaniki.

NRL: [US] Naval Research Laboratory.

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.

NRSC: [UK] National Remote Sensing Centre.

NSF: National Science Foundation.*

NSI: NASA Science Internet.  NASA's portion of the IP internet, which
also carries DECnet traffic.  NSI-DECnet was formerly known as SPAN.

NSI: NASA Standard Initiator.  A pyrotechnic device used to break nuts
in order to separate various objects from ther Shuttle.

NSO: National Solar Observatory.  Part of NOAO, with facilities
located at Kitt Peak and Sacramento Peak.

NSSDC: National Space Science Data Center.  NSSDCA.MSFC.NASA.GOV in
the DNS; NCF on SPAN.  NSSDC is responsible for the distribution of
data collected by NASA.

=====================
=====     O     =====
=====================

OCGF: [IML] Organic Crystal Growth Facility.

OCTS: Ocean Color and Temperature Scanner.

OCTW: Optical Communications Through the shuttle Window.

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.

OSS: Office of the Space Station.  Home of Fred.

OSSA: Office of Space Science and Applications.

OSSE: Oriented Scintillation Spectrometer Experiment.  A GRO
instrument.

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.

PARE: Physiological and Anatomical Rodent Experiment.

PASS: Primary Avionics Software System.  Control software for the
Shuttle.

PCG: Protein Crystal Growth experiment.

PCT: Photometric Calibration Test.

PDRS: Payload Deployment and Retrieval System.  Another name is RMS.

PEM: Payload Electronics Module.

PEM: Particle Environment Monitor.  This instrument, aboard UARS,
measures energetic particles from the sun in several different energy
ranges.

PHA: Physics and Astronomy.  Department name at several universities
including JHU.

PI: Principal Investigator.  The person who is responsible for a given
experiment or instrument on a space probe.

PLB: Payload Bay (Shuttle).

PLBD: Payload Bay Doors (Shuttle).

POCC: Payload/Platform Operations Control Center.

POEM: Polar Orbiting Earth Mission.  The first mission for PPF.

POP: [Russian].  PO Polyot.

PPF: Columbus Polar Platform.  An unpiloted component of the ESA space
station program, to monitor earth resources and the environment from a
polar orbit.

PRTLS: Powered RTLS.

PTC: Passive Thermal Control.

PV: Photovoltaic.  That is, of, about, or pertaining to the generation
of electricity by direct conversion from light energy.

PVO: [Russian] Protivo-Vosdushniya Oborona.  CIS Air Defense Force;
it runs the CIS (former Soviet) early-warning satellites.

PVO: Pioneer Venus Orbiter.

=====================
=====     R     =====
=====================

RAE: [UK] Royal Aerospace Establishment.

RAL: [UK] Rutherford-Appleton Laboratory.

RCC: Reinforced Carbon-Carbon.  A surface-temperature-control material
for extremely high temperatures.

RCS: Reaction Control System.

RCS: Revision Control System.  Origin of the header line X-RCS: in
this article; it's the software system I use to track changes in this
document.

RCT: Radiometric Calibration Target.  A heater aboard Galileo.

RESTEC: [Japan] Remote Sensing Technology Center.

RHC: Rotational Hand Controller.

ROSAT: ROentgen SATellite.*  A joint German-US-UK X-ray observatory.

RMCD: [IML] Radaiation Monitoring Container Device.

RME: Radiation Monitoring Experiment.

RMS: Remote Manipulator System.*  Also knows as PDRS.

RPM: Retro Propulsion Module.

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.

RVSN: [Russian] Raketniye Voiska Stratigcheskovo Naznacheniya, SSSR.
Strategic Rocket Forces.  They carry out Soviet space launches.  [What
is this now, if anything?]

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

SAA: Single Access Antenna.  (A TDRS term?)

SAIL: Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory.

SAM: Shuttle Activation Monitor.

SAMS: [IML] Space Acceleration Measurement System.

SAR: Synthetic Aperture Radar.*

SAREX: Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment.

SBIR: Small Business Innovation Research.  A program for small
business research sponsored by the USN, US Army, USAF, Defense Nuclear
Agency, SDIO, DARPA, and NASA, among others.

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 Dryden; the new one lives in El Paso.

SDIO: Strategic Defense Initiative Organization.

SECO: Sustainer Engine Cutoff.  Part of the Atlas-E launch sequence.

SEI: Space Exploration Initiative.  An effort to put a permanent base
on the moon, and then go to Mars.  The SEI national program office is
headed by Dr. Michael Griffin, NASA Associate Administrator for
Exploration.

SEM: Space Environment Monitor.  A charged-particle spectrometer
aboard late-model TIROS-N class weather satellites.

SEP: [European] Societe Europeenne de Propulsion.

SEPAC: Space Experiments with Particle Accelerators.  A plasma-physics
experiment aboard STS-45.

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.

SHARE: Space Station Heat Pipe Advanced Radiator Element.

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.''

SIXA: Silicon X-ray Array.  A European X-ray spectrometer.

SLAP: Space link access protocol.

SLAR: Side-Looking Airborne Radar.  A remote-sensing technique using
radar shot from high-flying planes.

SLF: Shuttle Landing Facility.

SL-J: Spacelab Japan.

SME: Solar Mesosphere Explorer.*

SMM: Solar Maximum Mission.*  Also called ``Solar Max.''

SMS: Shuttle Mission Simulator.

SNG: [Russian] Sodruzhestva Nezabisimikh Gosudarst'.  Commonwealth
of Independent States.  [OK, Jonathan, now how about Ukrainian and
Kazakh versions?]

SNR: Signal to Noise Ratio.*

SOB: Strap-On Booster.

SOCC: Satellite Operations Control Center.  NOAA's is located in
Suitland, Md.

SOFI: Spray-on Foam Insulation.

SOHO: Solar and Heliospheric Observatory.  A joint NASA and ESA
mission scheduled for 1995.

SOLSTICE: Solar Stellar Irradiance Comparison Experiment.  This UARS
instrument compares the sun's UV output to that of bright blue stars
[class, anyone?], to provide a point of reference for future solar UV
monitoring experiments.

SPARTAN: Shuttle Pointed Autonomous Research Tool for Astronomy.

SPAS: Space Pallet Satellite.

SPOT: [French] 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.

SPTN: See SPARTAN.

SRB: Solid Rocket Booster.*

SRM: Solid Rocket Motor.*

SSBUV: Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet experiment.

SSCE: Solid Surface Combustion Experiment.

SSF: Space Station Freedom.*  See Fred.

SSI: Solid State Imaging.

SSME: Space Shuttle Main Engine.*

SSO: Spurious Shut-off.

SSPO: Space Shuttle Program Office.

SSRV: Solar-Sail Race Vehicle.

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.

STC: Stennis Test Center.  Located in Pearl River, Mississippi.

STC: SHAPE Technical Center.

STDCE: Surface Tension Driven Convection Experment.

STIKSCAT: [EOS] Stick Scatterometer.

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.

SUSIM: Solar Ultraviolet Spectral Irradiance Monitor.  One of the
instruments aboard UARS, this device measures the solar energy in the
ultraviolet range.  Built by the NRL.

SWAN: Solar Wind Anisotropy Experiment.  A photometer which will map
the solar wind out of the plane of the ecliptic, to be flown on SOHO.

SWLC: Salt Water Leak Check.  A failure of any airborne craft over any
ocean.

=====================
=====     T     =====
=====================

TAL: Trans-Atlantic Abort Landing.  One of the shuttle's myriad abort
modes; this one involves landing Banjul in the Gambia, Ben Guerir in
Morocco, or Moron, Spain.  [Anyone know how it would be ferried back?
Can either SCA cross the Atlantic?]

TCM: Trajectory Control Maneuver.

TDRS: Tracking and Data Relay Satellite.*

THIR: Temperature/Humidity Infrared Radiometer.  One of the
instruments aboard Nimbus spacecraft.

TIG: Time of Ignition.

TIG: Time until Ignition.

TIROS-N: Television Infrared Observation Satellite.  A class of
polar-orbit weather satellites including the NOAA series (q.v.).  The
first weather satellite ever, which was oddly enough called just
``TIROS-N'', was launched on 1 April 1960.  TIROS is a cooperative
program involving Canada, the UK, and France, in addition to NOAA and
NASA in the US.

TKSC: [Japan] Tsukuba Space Center.

TLB: [Henry Spencer].  Three Letter Building.

TM: Thematic Mapper.  A Landsat instrument.

TOMS: Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer.

TOPEX: Ocean Topography Experiment.  [US-French joint program.]

TOS: Transfer Orbit Stage.

TPCE: Tank Pressure Control Experiment.

TRMM: Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission.

TSM: Tail Service Mast.  Part of the Shuttle launch hardware.

TsPK: [Russian] Tsentr Podgotovka Kosmonavti.  Cosmonaut Training
Center at Zvyozdniy Gorodok (Starry Town or ``Star City'').  The CIS
equivalent of JSC, except that mission control is at TsUP, instead.

TSS: Tethered Satellite System.*

TsUP: [Russian] Tsentr Upravileniya Polyoti.  Flight Control Center.
The CIS equivalent of JSC, except that cosmonaut training is
located at TsPK, instead.

TTC: Telemetry, Telecommand, and Control.

TWTA: Travelling Wave Tube Amplifier.  A microwave-amplifying device
commonly found on comsats and radarsats.

=====================
=====     U     =====
=====================

U3P: [French] Union pour la Promotion de la Propulsion Photonique.

UARS: Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite.*  This satellite studies
the effects of human activity on Earth's atmosphere, including ozone
depletion.  During its expected twenty-month lifespan, it will see two
Arctic winters and one Antarctic winter.  Part of MTPE.  The
instruments are: ACRIM II, CLAES, ISAMS, MLS, HALOE, HRDI, WINDII,
SUSIM, SOLSTICE, and PEM.

UIT: Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope.  One of the instruments carried on
the ASTRO-I (STS-35) shuttle mission, which will be returning for
ASTRO-II.

UNC: University of North Carolina.  Home of Jon Leech, editor of the
sci.space/SPACE Digest FAQ.

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

USAF: United States Air Force.

USA/RC: Universities Space Automation/Robotics Consortium.  A group of
Texas universities researching teleoperation and robotics for JSC.

USMC: United States Marine Corps.

USML: United States Microgravity Laboratory.

USN: United States Navy.

USO: Ultra-Stable Oscillator.

UT: Universal Time.*

UTC: Universal Time, Coordinated.

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.*

UVS: Ultraviolet Spectrometer.  An instrument aboard Galileo.


=====================
=====     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.*

VAS: VISSR Atmospheric Sounder.  A GOES instrument.

VECO: Vernier Engine Cutoff.  Part of the Atlas-E launch sequence.

VEEGA: Venus-Earth-Earth Gravity Assist.  The sometimes praised, more
often cursed trajectory used by the Galileo probe to reach Jupiter;
this program as made necessary by post-Challenger modifications to the
spacecraft.  It takes six years total travel time to reach Jupiter.

VFT: Visual Function Tester.  A shuttle experiment measuring the
effects of microgravity environments on certain visual parameters.

VIB: Vertical Integration Building.

VICAR: [? expansion?].  A graphics interchange format used by JPL,
among others, for distribution of their pictures.  Tools for dealing
with this format are available from the SPACE archives at NASA Ames
(ames.arc.nasa.gov).

VISSR: Visible/Infrared Spin-Scan Radiometer.

VMF: [Russian] Voenno-Morskoy Flot.  The Soviet Navy; it runs Soviet
navsats.  [???]

VOIR: Venus Orbiting Imaging Radar (superseded by VRM).*

VPF: Vertical Processing Facility.

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

VS SNG: [Russian].  Vooruzhennikh Sil SNG.  Combined Forces of the
Commonwealth of Independent States.

VVS: [Russian] Voenno-Vosdushniye Sili.  Soviet Air Force; it trains
military cosmonauts. [???]

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

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

WFPC-II: Replacement for the WP/PC.*

WINDII: Wind Imaging Interferometer.

WMO: World Meterological Organisation.

WSGT: White Sands Ground Terminal.  The ground station for the TDRS
system.

WSMR: White Sands Missile Range.

WTR: Western Test Range.  Vandenberg 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, which will be
making a return appearance on ASTRO-II.

=====================
=====     Y     =====
=====================

YSC: Yokohama Science Center (Japan).