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Archive-name: space/acronyms |
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Edition: 8 |
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Acronym List for sci.astro, sci.space, and sci.space.shuttle: |
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Edition 8, 1992 Dec 7 |
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Last posted: 1992 Aug 27 |
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This list is offered as a reference for translating commonly appearing |
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acronyms in the space-related newsgroups. If I forgot or botched your |
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favorite acronym, please let me know! Also, if there's an acronym *not* |
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on this list that confuses you, drop me a line, and if I can figure |
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it out, I'll add it to the list. |
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Note that this is intended to be a reference for *frequently seen* |
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acronyms, and is most emphatically *not* encyclopedic. If I incorporated |
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every acronym I ever saw, I'd soon run out of disk space! :-) |
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The list will be posted at regular intervals, every 30 days. All |
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comments regarding it are welcome; I'm reachable as [email protected]. |
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Note that this just tells what the acronyms stand for -- you're on your |
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own for figuring out what they *mean*! Note also that the total number of |
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acronyms in use far exceeds what I can list; special-purpose acronyms that |
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are essentially always explained as they're introduced are omitted. |
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Further, some acronyms stand for more than one thing; as of Edition 3 of |
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the list, these acronyms appear on multiple lines, unless they're simply |
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different ways of referring to the same thing. |
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Thanks to everybody who's sent suggestions since the first version of |
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the list, and especially to Garrett A. Wollman ([email protected]), |
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who is maintaining an independent list, somewhat more verbose in |
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character than mine, and to Daniel Fischer ([email protected]), |
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who is maintaining a truly HUGE list (535 at last count) of acronyms and |
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terms, mostly in German (which I read, fortunately). |
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Special thanks this time to Ken Hollis at NASA, who sent me a copy of NASA |
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Reference Publication 1059 Revised: _Space Transportation System and |
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Associated Payloads: Glossary, Acronyms, and Abbreviations_, a truly |
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mammoth tome -- almost 300 pages of TLAs. |
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Special Bonus! At the end of this posting, you will find a perl program |
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written by none other than Larry Wall, whose purpose is to scramble the |
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acronym list in an entertaining fashion. Thanks, Larry! |
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A&A: Astronomy and Astrophysics |
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AAO: Anglo-Australian Observatory |
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AAS: American Astronomical Society |
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AAS: American Astronautical Society |
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AAVSO: American Association of Variable Star Observers |
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ACE: Advanced Composition Explorer |
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ACRV: Assured Crew Return Vehicle (or) Astronaut Crew Rescue Vehicle |
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ADFRF: Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility (was DFRF) (NASA) |
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AGN: Active Galactic Nucleus |
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AGU: American Geophysical Union |
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AIAA: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics |
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AIPS: Astronomical Image Processing System |
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AJ: Astronomical Journal |
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ALEXIS: Array of Low Energy X-ray Imaging Sensors |
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ALPO: Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers |
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ALS: Advanced Launch System |
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ANSI: American National Standards Institute |
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AOA: Abort Once Around (Shuttle abort plan) |
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AOCS: Attitude and Orbit Control System |
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Ap.J: Astrophysical Journal |
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APM: Attached Pressurized Module (a.k.a. Columbus) |
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APU: Auxiliary Power Unit |
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ARC: Ames Research Center (NASA) |
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ARTEMIS: Advanced Relay TEchnology MISsion |
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ASA: Astronomical Society of the Atlantic |
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ASI: Agenzia Spaziale Italiano |
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ASRM: Advanced Solid Rocket Motor |
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ATDRS: Advanced Tracking and Data Relay Satellite |
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ATLAS: Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science |
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ATM: Amateur Telescope Maker |
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ATO: Abort To Orbit (Shuttle abort plan) |
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AU: Astronomical Unit |
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AURA: Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy |
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AW&ST: Aviation Week and Space Technology (a.k.a. AvLeak) |
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AXAF: Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility |
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BATSE: Burst And Transient Source Experiment (on CGRO) |
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BBXRT: Broad-Band X-Ray Telescope (ASTRO package) |
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BEM: Bug-Eyed Monster |
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BH: Black Hole |
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BIMA: Berkeley Illinois Maryland Array |
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BNSC: British National Space Centre |
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BTW: By The Way |
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C&T: Communications & Tracking |
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CCAFS: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station |
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CCD: Charge-Coupled Device |
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CCDS: Centers for the Commercial Development of Space |
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CD-ROM: Compact Disk Read-Only Memory |
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CFA: Center For Astrophysics |
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CFC: ChloroFluoroCarbon |
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CFF: Columbus Free Flyer |
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CFHT: Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope |
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CGRO: (Arthur Holley) Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (was GRO) |
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CHARA: Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy |
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CIRRIS: Cryogenic InfraRed Radiance Instrument for Shuttle |
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CIT: Circumstellar Imaging Telescope |
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CM: Command Module (Apollo spacecraft) |
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CMCC: Central Mission Control Centre (ESA) |
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CNES: Centre National d'Etude Spatiales |
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CNO: Carbon-Nitrogen-Oxygen |
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CNSR: Comet Nucleus Sample Return |
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COBE: COsmic Background Explorer |
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COMPTEL: COMPton TELescope (on CGRO) |
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COSTAR: Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement |
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CRAF: Comet Rendezvous / Asteroid Flyby |
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CRRES: Combined Release / Radiation Effects Satellite |
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CSM: Command and Service Module (Apollo spacecraft) |
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CSTC: Consolidated Satellite Test Center (USAF) |
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CTIO: Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory |
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DCX: Delta Clipper eXperimental |
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DDCU: DC-to-DC Converter Unit |
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DFRF: Dryden Flight Research Facility (now ADFRF) |
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DMSP: Defense Meteorological Satellite Program |
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DOD: Department Of Defense (sometimes DoD) |
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DOE: Department Of Energy |
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DOT: Department Of Transportation |
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DSCS: Defense Satellite Communications System |
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DSN: Deep Space Network |
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DSP: Defense Support Program (USAF/NRO) |
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EAFB: Edwards Air Force Base |
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ECS: Environmental Control System |
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EDO: Extended Duration Orbiter |
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EGRET: Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment Telescope (on CGRO) |
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EJASA: Electronic Journal of the Astronomical Society of the Atlantic |
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ELV: Expendable Launch Vehicle |
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EMU: Extravehicular Mobility Unit |
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EOS: Earth Observing System |
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ERS: Earth Resources Satellite (as in ERS-1) |
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ESA: European Space Agency |
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ESO: European Southern Observatory |
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ET: (Shuttle) External Tank |
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ETLA: Extended Three Letter Acronym |
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ETR: Eastern Test Range |
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EUV: Extreme UltraViolet |
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EUVE: Extreme UltraViolet Explorer |
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EVA: ExtraVehicular Activity |
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FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions |
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FAST: Fast Auroral SnapshoT explorer |
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FFT: Fast Fourier Transform |
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FGS: Fine Guidance Sensors (on HST) |
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FHST: Fixed Head Star Trackers (on HST) |
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FIR: Far InfraRed |
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FITS: Flexible Image Transport System |
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FOC: Faint Object Camera (on HST) |
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FOS: Faint Object Spectrograph (on HST) |
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FRR: Flight-Readiness Review |
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FTP: File Transfer Protocol |
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FTS: Flight Telerobotic Servicer |
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FUSE: Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer |
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FWHM: Full Width at Half Maximum |
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FYI: For Your Information |
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GAS: Get-Away Special |
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GBT: Green Bank Telescope |
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GCVS: General Catalog of Variable Stars |
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GEM: Giotto Extended Mission |
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GEO: Geosynchronous Earth Orbit |
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GDS: Great Dark Spot |
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GHRS: Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph (on HST) |
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GIF: Graphics Interchange Format |
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GLOMR: Global Low-Orbiting Message Relay |
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GMC: Giant Molecular Cloud |
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GMRT: Giant Meter-wave Radio Telescope |
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GMT: Greenwich Mean Time (also called UT) |
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GOES: Geostationary Orbiting Environmental Satellite |
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GOX: Gaseous OXygen |
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GPC: General Purpose Computer |
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GPS: Global Positioning System |
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GRO: Gamma Ray Observatory (now CGRO) |
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GRS: Gamma Ray Spectrometer (on Mars Observer) |
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GRS: Great Red Spot |
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GSC: Guide Star Catalog (for HST) |
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GSFC: Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA) |
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GTO: Geostationary Transfer Orbit |
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HAO: High Altitude Observatory |
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HD: Henry Draper catalog entry |
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HEAO: High Energy Astronomical Observatory |
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HeRA: Hermes Robotic Arm |
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HF: High Frequency |
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HGA: High Gain Antenna |
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HLC: Heavy Lift Capability |
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HLV: Heavy Lift Vehicle |
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HMC: Halley Multicolor Camera (on Giotto) |
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HR: Hertzsprung-Russell (diagram) |
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HRI: High Resolution Imager (on ROSAT) |
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HSP: High Speed Photometer (on HST) |
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HST: Hubble Space Telescope |
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HUT: Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (ASTRO package) |
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HV: High Voltage |
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IAPPP: International Amateur/Professional Photoelectric Photometry |
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IAU: International Astronomical Union |
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IAUC: IAU Circular |
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ICE: International Cometary Explorer |
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IDA: International Dark-sky Association |
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IDL: Interactive Data Language |
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IGM: InterGalactic Medium |
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IGY: International Geophysical Year |
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IMHO: In My Humble Opinion |
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IOTA: Infrared-Optical Telescope Array |
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IOTA: International Occultation Timing Association |
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IPS: Inertial Pointing System |
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IR: InfraRed |
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IRAF: Image Reduction and Analysis Facility |
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IRAS: InfraRed Astronomical Satellite |
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ISAS: Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (Japan) |
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ISM: InterStellar Medium |
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ISO: Infrared Space Observatory |
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ISO: International Standards Organization |
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ISPM: International Solar Polar Mission (now Ulysses) |
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ISY: International Space Year |
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IUE: International Ultraviolet Explorer |
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IUS: Inertial Upper Stage |
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JEM: Japanese Experiment Module (for SSF) |
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JGR: Journal of Geophysical Research |
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JILA: Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics |
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JPL: Jet Propulsion Laboratory |
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JSC: Johnson Space Center (NASA) |
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KAO: Kuiper Airborne Observatory |
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KPNO: Kitt Peak National Observatory |
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KSC: Kennedy Space Center (NASA) |
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KTB: Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary (from German) |
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LANL: Los Alamos National Laboratory |
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LaRC: Langley Research Center (NASA) |
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LDEF: Long Duration Exposure Facility |
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LEM: Lunar Excursion Module (a.k.a. LM) (Apollo spacecraft) |
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LEO: Low Earth Orbit |
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LeRC: Lewis Research Center (NASA) |
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LEST: Large Earth-based Solar Telescope |
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LFSA: List of Frequently Seen Acronyms (!) |
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LGA: Low Gain Antenna |
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LGM: Little Green Men |
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LH: Liquid Hydrogen (also LH2 or LHX) |
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LLNL: Lawrence-Livermore National Laboratory |
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LM: Lunar Module (a.k.a. LEM) (Apollo spacecraft) |
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LMC: Large Magellanic Cloud |
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LN2: Liquid N2 (Nitrogen) |
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LOX: Liquid OXygen |
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LRB: Liquid Rocket Booster |
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LSR: Local Standard of Rest |
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LTP: Lunar Transient Phenomenon |
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MB: Manned Base |
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MCC: Mission Control Center |
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MECO: Main Engine CutOff |
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MMH: MonoMethyl Hydrazine |
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MMT: Multiple Mirror Telescope |
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MMU: Manned Maneuvering Unit |
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MNRAS: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society |
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MOC: Mars Observer Camera (on Mars Observer) |
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MOL: Manned Orbiting Laboratory |
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MOLA: Mars Observer Laser Altimeter (on Mars Observer) |
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MOMV: Manned Orbital Maneuvering Vehicle |
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MOTV: Manned Orbital Transfer Vehicle |
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MPC: Minor Planets Circular |
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MRSR: Mars Rover and Sample Return |
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MRSRM: Mars Rover and Sample Return Mission |
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MSFC: (George C.) Marshall Space Flight Center (NASA) |
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MTC: Man Tended Capability |
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NACA: National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (became NASA) |
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NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration |
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NASDA: NAtional Space Development Agency (Japan) |
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NASM: National Air and Space Museum |
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NASP: National AeroSpace Plane |
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NBS: National Bureau of Standards (now NIST) |
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NDV: NASP Derived Vehicle |
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NERVA: Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application |
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NGC: New General Catalog |
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NICMOS: Near Infrared Camera / Multi Object Spectrometer (HST upgrade) |
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NIMS: Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (on Galileo) |
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NIR: Near InfraRed |
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NIST: National Institute for Standards and Technology (was NBS) |
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NLDP: National Launch Development Program |
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NOAA: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |
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NOAO: National Optical Astronomy Observatories |
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NRAO: National Radio Astronomy Observatory |
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NRO: National Reconnaissance Office |
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NS: Neutron Star |
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NSA: National Security Agency |
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NSF: National Science Foundation |
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NSO: National Solar Observatory |
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NSSDC: National Space Science Data Center |
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NTR: Nuclear Thermal Rocket(ry) |
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NTT: New Technology Telescope |
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OAO: Orbiting Astronomical Observatory |
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OCST: Office of Commercial Space Transportation |
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OMB: Office of Management and Budget |
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OMS: Orbital Maneuvering System |
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OPF: Orbiter Processing Facility |
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ORFEUS: Orbiting and Retrievable Far and Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrometer |
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OSC: Orbital Sciences Corporation |
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OSCAR: Orbiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio |
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OSSA: Office of Space Science and Applications |
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OSSE: Oriented Scintillation Spectrometer Experiment (on CGRO) |
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OTA: Optical Telescope Assembly (on HST) |
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OTHB: Over The Horizon Backscatter |
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OTV: Orbital Transfer Vehicle |
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OV: Orbital Vehicle |
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PAM: Payload Assist Module |
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PAM-D: Payload Assist Module, Delta-class |
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PI: Principal Investigator |
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PLSS: Portable Life Support System |
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PM: Pressurized Module |
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PMC: Permanently Manned Capability |
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PMIRR: Pressure Modulated InfraRed Radiometer (on Mars Observer) |
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PMT: PhotoMultiplier Tube |
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PSF: Point Spread Function |
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PSR: PulSaR |
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PV: Photovoltaic |
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PVO: Pioneer Venus Orbiter |
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QSO: Quasi-Stellar Object |
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RCI: Rodent Cage Interface (for SLS mission) |
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RCS: Reaction Control System |
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REM: Rat Enclosure Module (for SLS mission) |
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RF: Radio Frequency |
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RFI: Radio Frequency Interference |
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RIACS: Research Institute for Advanced Computer Science |
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RMS: Remote Manipulator System |
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RNGC: Revised New General Catalog |
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ROSAT: ROentgen SATellite |
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ROUS: Rodents Of Unusual Size (I don't believe they exist) |
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RSN: Real Soon Now |
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RTG: Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator |
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RTLS: Return To Launch Site (Shuttle abort plan) |
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SAA: South Atlantic Anomaly |
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SAGA: Solar Array Gain Augmentation (for HST) |
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SAMPEX: Solar Anomalous and Magnetospheric Particle EXplorer |
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SAO: Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory |
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SAR: Search And Rescue |
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SAR: Synthetic Aperture Radar |
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SARA: Satellite pour Astronomie Radio Amateur |
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SAREX: Search and Rescue Exercise |
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SAREX: Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment |
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SAS: Space Activity Suit |
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SAS: Space Adaptation Syndrome |
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SAT: Synthetic Aperture Telescope |
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S/C: SpaceCraft |
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SCA: Shuttle Carrier Aircraft |
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SCT: Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope |
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SDI: Strategic Defense Initiative |
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SDIO: Strategic Defense Initiative Organization |
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SEI: Space Exploration Initiative |
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SEST: Swedish ESO Submillimeter Telescope |
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SETI: Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence |
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SID: Sudden Ionospheric Disturbance |
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SIR: Shuttle Imaging Radar |
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SIRTF: Space (formerly Shuttle) InfraRed Telescope Facility |
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SL: SpaceLab |
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SLAR: Side-Looking Airborne Radar |
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SLC: Space Launch Complex |
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SLS: Space(lab) Life Sciences |
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SMC: Small Magellanic Cloud |
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SME: Solar Mesosphere Explorer |
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SMEX: SMall EXplorers |
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SMM: Solar Maximum Mission |
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SN: SuperNova (e.g., SN1987A) |
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SNR: Signal to Noise Ratio |
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SNR: SuperNova Remnant |
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SNU: Solar Neutrino Units |
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SOFIA: Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy |
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SOHO: SOlar Heliospheric Observatory |
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SPAN: Space Physics and Analysis Network |
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SPDM: Special Purpose Dextrous Manipulator |
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SPOT: Systeme Probatoire pour l'Observation de la Terre |
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SPS: Solar Power Satellite |
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SRB: Solid Rocket Booster |
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SRM: Solid Rocket Motor |
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SSF: Space Station Fred (er, Freedom) |
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SSI: Solid-State Imager (on Galileo) |
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SSI: Space Studies Institut |
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SSME: Space Shuttle Main Engine |
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SSPF: Space Station Processing Facility |
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SSRMS: Space Station Remote Manipulator System |
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SST: Spectroscopic Survey Telescope |
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SST: SuperSonic Transport |
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SSTO: Single Stage To Orbit |
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STIS: Space Telescope Imaging Spectrometer (to replace FOC and GHRS) |
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STS: Shuttle Transport System (or) Space Transportation System |
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STScI: Space Telescope Science Institute |
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SWAS: Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite |
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SWF: ShortWave Fading |
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TAL: Transatlantic Abort Landing (Shuttle abort plan) |
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TAU: Thousand Astronomical Unit (mission) |
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TCS: Thermal Control System |
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TDRS: Tracking and Data Relay Satellite |
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TDRSS: Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System |
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TES: Thermal Emission Spectrometer (on Mars Observer) |
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TIROS: Television InfraRed Observation Satellite |
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TLA: Three Letter Acronym |
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TOMS: Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer |
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TPS: Thermal Protection System |
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TSS: Tethered Satellite System |
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UARS: Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite |
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UBM: Unpressurized Berthing Mechanism |
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UDMH: Unsymmetrical DiMethyl Hydrazine |
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UFO: Unidentified Flying Object |
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UGC: Uppsala General Catalog |
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UHF: Ultra High Frequency |
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UIT: Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (Astro package) |
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UKST: United Kingdom Schmidt Telescope |
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USAF: United States Air Force |
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USMP: United States Microgravity Payload |
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UT: Universal Time (a.k.a. GMT, UTC, or Zulu Time) |
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UTC: Coordinated Universal Time (a.k.a. UT) |
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UV: UltraViolet |
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UVS: UltraViolet Spectrometer |
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VAB: Vehicle Assembly Building (formerly Vertical Assembly Building) |
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VAFB: Vandenberg Air Force Base |
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VEEGA: Venus-Earth-Earth Gravity Assist (Galileo flight path) |
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VHF: Very High Frequency |
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VLA: Very Large Array |
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VLBA: Very Long Baseline Array |
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VLBI: Very Long Baseline Interferometry |
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VLF: Very Low Frequency |
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VLT: Very Large Telescope |
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VMS: Vertical Motion Simulator |
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VOIR: Venus Orbiting Imaging Radar (superseded by VRM) |
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VPF: Vertical Processing Facility |
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VRM: Venus Radar Mapper (now called Magellan) |
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WD: White Dwarf |
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WFPC: Wide Field / Planetary Camera (on HST) |
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WFPCII: Replacement for WFPC |
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WIYN: Wisconsin / Indiana / Yale / NOAO telescope |
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WSMR: White Sands Missile Range |
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WTR: Western Test Range |
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WUPPE: Wisconsin Ultraviolet PhotoPolarimter Experiment (Astro package) |
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XMM: X-ray Multi Mirror |
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XUV: eXtreme UltraViolet |
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YSO: Young Stellar Object |
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#!/usr/bin/perl |
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# 'alt', An Acronym Scrambling Program, by Larry Wall |
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srand; |
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while (<>) { |
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next unless /^([A-Z]\S+): */; |
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$key = $1; |
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$acro{$key} = $'; |
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@words = split(/\W+/,$'); |
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unshift(@words,$key); |
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$off = 0; |
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foreach $word (@words) { |
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next unless $word =~ /^[A-Z]/; |
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vec($w{$word}, $off++ % 6, 1) = 1; |
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foreach $letter (A .. Z) { |
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*w = $letter; |
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@w = keys %w; |
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if (@w < $THRESHOLD) { |
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@d = `egrep '^$letter' /usr/dict/words`; |
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chop @d; |
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push(@w, @d); |
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foreach $key (sort keys %acro) { |
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$off = 0; |
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$acro = $acro{$key}; |
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$acro =~ s/((([A-Z])[A-Z]*)[a-z]*)/ &pick($3, $2, $1, ++$off) || $& /eg; |
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print "$key: $acro"; |
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sub pick { |
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local($letter, $prefix, $oldword, $off) = @_; |
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$i = 0; |
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if (length($prefix) > 1 && index($key,$prefix) < 0) { |
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if ($prefix eq $oldword) { |
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$prefix = ''; |
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else { |
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$prefix = $letter; |
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if (length($prefix) > 1) { |
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local(*w) = substr($prefix,0,1); |
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do { |
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$word = $w[rand @w]; |
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} until $word ne $oldword && $word =~ /^$prefix/i || ++$i > 30; |
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$word =~ s/^$prefix/$prefix/i; |
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$word; |
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elsif (length($prefix) == 1) { |
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local(*w) = $prefix; |
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do { |
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$word = $w[rand @w]; |
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} until $word ne $oldword && vec($w{$word}, $off, 1) || ++$i > 10; |
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$word = "\u\L$word" if $word =~ tr/a-z/A-Z/; |
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$word; |
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else { |
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local(*w) = substr($oldword,0,1); |
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do { |
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$word = $w[rand @w]; |
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} until $word ne $oldword && $word =~ tr/a-z/A-Z/ == 0 || ++$i > 30; |
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$word; |
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-- Mark Bradford ([email protected]) <> To err is human, to moo bovine. |
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"It's an ill wind that gathers no moss." |
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