List of Acronyms and Abbreviations
This list contains definitions for Orbiter or important spaceflight acronyms or abbreviations, especially those appearing in MFDs and various HUD modes.
One entry in this list consists of a term with one or more definitions, like:
- Term
- Definition
;Term:Definition
Don't use links in the term part of a entry, please do so in the definition part, for keeping a consistent look-and-feel and don't putting to much emphasis on a single definition.
Terms without definitions will get moved to the talk page into the section "Wanted definitions". If you have multiple definitions for a term, the definition part should turn into a numbered list, like:
- Term
- Definition 1
- Definition 2
- Definition 3
;Term: #Definition 1 #Definition 2 #Definition 3
The order of the definitions should be like that:
- Orbiter HUD definitions
- Orbiter MFD definitions
- General Orbiter definitions
- Orbiter Add-on definitions
- General spaceflight definitions
If you don't agree to a ordering of definitions, please complain in the talk page about the entry.
See also
Contents: Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
A
- ACC
- Acceleration, displayed in Surface MFD to indicate increasing or decereasing horizontal speed of the ship in m/s2
- ACT
- Activate, command button in RCS attitude MFD in docking mode to activate the programmed orientation to the target dock
- AgP
- Argument of periapsis:The angle in the orbit from the point of the ascending node to the point of periapsis, displayed in Orbit MFD
- ALT or Alt
- altitude, distance from the body surface
- Used in Orbit MFD when Alt mode is selected to indicate distance from the surface of the body
- Used in Surface MFD to indicate altitude in km from the body surface
- AN
- ascending node:a vector in an orbit where the body passes from south to north of the plane of reference (i.e. ecliptic or equatorial). Shown in Align MFD and Orbit MFD as a dotted vector line connecting to a solid square on the orbit.
- AOA
- Angle of attack, the difference between the ship's direction of travel and the pitch of its nose
- Used in Surface MFD to indicate the angle of attack
- AORP
- Autonomous Orbiter Rapid Prototype, a system to allow a shuttle orbiter to land without crew.
- AP
- Used in Surface MFD, a red rectangle with white "AP" in the altitude tape to indicate the altitude of the ship's apoapsis
- ApA
- apoapsis apoapsis altitude, the lowest altitude of an orbit, displayed in Orbit MFD.
- ApD
- apoapsis apoapsis distance
- ApR
- apoapsis apoapsis radius, displayed in Orbit MFD
- ApT
- time to apoapsis in seconds, displayed in Orbit MFD
- AR
- Automatic Reference, used in Align MFD, Orbit MFD as a command button for Align to select a reference body automatically based on highest gravity
- Altitude Range, used to manually set the range in the altitude graph in Ascent profile MFD
- acceptance review
- atmo
- atmosphere
- ATM DATA
- Atmospheric data in Surface MFD readouts
- ATV
- AU
- astronomical unit
- AX
- Axis, command button in RCS attitude MFD to change the selected axis beetween pitch/yaw/roll
B
- BAS
- Basemode, command button to select programmed attitude (prograde, orbit normal, perpendicular in, radial down) in RCS attitude MFD
- BMW
- Bate, Mueller, White - authors of Fundamentals of Astrodynamics (1971)
- BRG
- Bearing, used in the Horizontal Situation Indicator MFD to indicate the compass direction of the ILS or VOR transmitter
C
- CaLV
- Cargo launch vehicle, see Ares V
- CDI
- course deviation indicator, the yellow arrow in the Horizontal Situation Indicator MFD
- CDR
- commander
- critical design review
- CEV
- Crew expedition vehicle, see CEV
- CFD
- computational fluid dynamics
- CFG
- command button in RCS attitude MFD to switch to configuration page
- CLV
- Crew launch vehicle, see Ares I
- CNC
- Cancel, used in RCS attitude MFD in the docking mode to cancel the docking mode program
- COAS
- Crew Optical Alignment Sight
- COM
- communication or communicator
- CRS
- Course, indicates the ship's course (heading) in the Horizontal Situation Indicator MFD
- CTD
- crash to desktop
- CTRL
- Control
- CTV
- Crew Transfer Vehicle, a manned spacecraft derived from the ATV, see CTV
- Compatibility Test Van, NASA
- CUR
- Command button in RCS attitude MFD to set the programmed attitude to the current attitude
- CVEL
- closing velocity
- Common Vessel Extensions Light, see CVEL
D
- D3D9
- refers to the advanced graphics client in Orbiter
- Da
- Deviation, displayed in RCS attitude MFD to indicate how many degrees the ship has to go in Roll to reach programmed attitude
- DCK
- command button in RCS attitude MFD to set the MFD into Docking mode
- DDT&E
- design, development, test and evaluation
- DEV
- Deviation, in the Horizontal Situation Indicator MFD, it indicates how far the OBS is adjusted left or right of the radial
- DG
- Delta-glider
- DG4
- Orbiter's stock DG
- DGIII
- DeltagliderIII, a famous enhanced version of the Delta-glider.
- DGIV
- DeltaGliderIV, an improved version of the DeltaGliderIII.
- DG-S
- Delta-glider equiped with two scramjets.
- Dir
- direction
- Dist
- distance
- Displayed in Sync MFD, distance ship to target
- DIV
- divergent, i.e. yaw gimbal mode.
- DLng
- difference in longitude between ship and target, displayed in Sync MFD
- DN
- Down, used in Map MFD when Tracking mode is off and map zoomed in to scroll the map down so you can see farther South
- Command button in RCS attitude MFD to change the selected modification up so you can edit it
- descending node
- DNP
- dynamic pressure, given in Pa
- Displayed in Surface MFD to indicate atmospheric pressure
- DNS
- atmospheric density, given in kg m-3, symbol ρ
- displayed in Surface MFD
- DPS
- Data Processing System. Term describing the general purpose computers and their interfaces onboard various manned spacecraft
- Dr
- Deviation, displayed in RCS attitude MFD to indicate how many degrees until the ship reaches pitch and yaw alignment with the programmed attitude
- DSP
- Display, used in Map MFD to switch between Ground Track Display and Orbital Plane Display
- DST or Dst
- Distance (to target), used in the Horizontal Situation Indicator MFD to indicate distance to the selected ILS or VOR transmitter
- Distance, used in Orbit MFD to select between Rad, ApR, PeR (distance from body center) and Alt, ApA, PeA (distance from body surface)
- DTe
- time to ejection, displayed in Transfer MFD
- DTi
- time to intercept, displayed in Transfer MFD
- DTmin
- time of arrival difference
- Displayed in Sync MFD to indicate difference in time between ship and target passing the intersection point
- Dv
- delta velocity, command button in Transfer MFD to increase or decrease the delta-v of the HTO; see also Delta-V
E
- Ecc
- eccentricity of orbit, displayed in Orbit MFD
- ECL
- plane of the ecliptic
- ECLSS
- Environmental control and life support system
- ECSS
- european cooperation for space standardization
- EELV
- Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle
- EJ+ and EJ-
- Command buttons in Transfer MFD to increase or decrease the longitude of orbit ejection
- ELS
- ELements, custom Select, used in Align MFD to select a custom orbital elements to which to align
- END
- command button in RCS attitude MFD to stop the programmed attitude mode
- EQU
- plane of the equator
- EQU POS
- Equatorial position, given as longitude and latitude
- Displayed in Surface MFD given as position and rate of change
- ESA
- European Space Agency
- ESAS
- Exploration Systems Architecture Study
- ET
- external tank
- EVA
- Extra vehicular activity, see EVA
F
- FGB
- Russian abbreviation for Functional Cargo Block. See FGB
- FoV
- field of view, as seen in the general information display
- FPS
- frame rate (frames per second), as seen in the general information display
- FRF
- Flight Readiness Firing, a launch countdown test of the Shuttle running all except SRB ignition and lift-off.
- FRM
- Frame of reference, used in Orbit MFD to change the orbital display and parameters between Equatorial or Ecliptic
G
- G or g
- used in Orbit MFD, indicates what fraction of gravity is exerted on the ship by the reference body (0 to 1)
- unit of acceleration. 1g equals the gravity acceleration on earths surface, 9.81 m/s²
- GET
- Ground Elapsed Time [2]
- GL
- Used often as vehicle name prefix for a Delta-glider
- GLOC
- Gravity-induced Loss of Consciousness
- GMT
- Greenwich Mean Time.See Universal Time on Wikipedia
- GO
- Go, command button in RCS attitude MFD, once the desired orientation and modifications are set, to activate the program
- GPDS
- Generic Payload Description System
- GPS
- Global Positioning System
- GS
- Ground speed
- Command button in Surface MFD to set the speed tape to GS
H
- H
- Horizon
- HAC
- Heading Alignment Cone
- HLLV
- heavy lift launch vehicle
- HSI
- horizontal situation indicator
- HST
- Hubble Space Telescope
- HTO
- hypothetical transfer orbit, command button in Transfer MFD to display HTO parameters
- HUD
- heads up display, used in Docking MFD, Orbit MFD, Surface MFD to copy the current parameters to the HUD
I
- IAS
- indicated air speed Indicated airspeed
- Command button in Surface MFD to set the speed tape to IAS
- IDS
- instrument docking system, used in Docking MFD
- ILS
- Instrument Landing System
- also used in Horizontal Situation Indicator MFD to indicate which runway at which Spaceport is selected by the NAV system
- International launch services, a US-russian joint venture marketing Atlas and Proton launches
- Inc
- Inclination, angular difference between one orbit with respect to another, usually the ecliptic, equatorial, body orbit, or target orbit, displayed in Align MFD, Orbit MFD
- INV
- Inverse, command button in RCS attitude MFD to change the programmed attitude to the inverse (retrograde, orbit antinormal, perpendicular out, radial up)
- ISP
- specific impulse
- ISS
- International Space Station
J
- JD
- Julian date
- JSC
- Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center
- JWST
- James Webb Space Telescope
K
- KISS
- "Keep it simple, stupid!" Famous engineering dogma.[3]
- KSC
- Kennedy Space Center
L
- LAN
- Longitude of the ascending node, used in Align MFD, Orbit MFD
- local-area network
- LCC
- launch control center
- life cycle cost
- LDEF
- Long Duration Exposure Facility
- LEN
- List Length
- Command button in Sync MFD to select number of orbits to display (lines 0-18)
- LEO
- Low earth orbit
- LH2
- Liquid Hydrogen
- LOCV
- Loss of crew and vehicle
- LOX
- Liquid Oxygen
- LPe
- longitude of periapsis, displayed in Orbit MFD
- L/R
- Left/Right, used in Horizontal Situation Indicator MFD to switch MFD mode focus to the left or right graphic display
M
- m
- metre
- M
- Mega (SI prefix for 106).
- Mass, given in kg
- mach number or multiples of speed of sound in a given medium
- Used in Surface MFD ship's speed is given in mach number as well as m/s
- MCC
- mid course correction
- mission control center
- MCC-H
- mission control center Houston
- MCC-M
- mission control center Moscow
- MDR
- mission definition review
- MECO
- main engine cutoff
- MET
- Mission Elapsed Time. See Mission Elapsed Time on Wikipedia.
- MFD
- Multifunctional Display, see MFD
- MHz
- MegaHerz, same as the old term megacycles/second, radio and transponder frequency, used in COMNAV MFD
- MJD
- modified julian date
- MLP
- Mobile Launcher Platform
- MMOD
- Micrometeorites and orbital debris
- MMU
- manned maneuvering unit, see MMU
- MnA
- mean anomaly, displayed in Orbit MFD
- MnL
- mean longitude, displayed in Orbit MFD
- MOD
- used in Orbit MFD and Sync MFD to cycle the display between parameters only, orbital display only, or both
- m/s
- meters per second, the SI base unit of velocity
- MSx
- Mission Specialist x
N
- NAV
- Navigatonal receiver,
- in COMNAV MFD it is used to identify up to four receivers in the stack
- in Horizontal Situation Indicator MFD, it is used to select which receiver an HSI display is tuned to
- in RCS attitude MFD command button in Docking mode to slave one of the Nav receivers to this MFD
- navigation
- navigation aid
- NT
- No target, used in Orbit MFD and Transfer MFD to deselect the target
- NUM
- Comand button in Transfer MFD to select the number of steps to use in the HTO calculation
O
- OAT
- outside air temperature, displayed in Surface MFD given in Kelvins (K)
- Ob
- Obliquity of ecliptic (tilt of axis of rotation against plane of ecliptic)
- Orbit, displayed in Sync MFD indicates how many orbits remaining until rendezvous
- OB+ and OB-
- OmniBearing, used to change the offset of the course arrow to left or right of the beam
- OBS
- omni bearing selector, the yellow arrow in the Horizontal Situation Indicator MFD
- OBT
- orbit, displayed in Orbit MFD
- OMBUU
- Orbiter Midbody Umbilical Unit
- OMP
- Orbiter Multiplayer Project, an ongoing program to create a multiplayer server in Orbiter, see OMP.
- OMS
- Orbital Maneuvering System, the 'main engines' of the space shuttle orbiter
- OS
- Orbital speed
- Command button in Surface MFD to set the speed tape to OS
P
- P
- position (sometimes radius) vector, displayed in the Align MFD
- p0
- atmospheric pressure at sea level
- PAM
- Payload Assist Module, a family of solid upper stages for the Space Shuttle
- PAPI
- Precision Approach Path Indicators, lit runway centerline.
- PB
- Shuttle PB
- PDR
- preliminary design review
- PDRS
- Payload Deployment and Retrieval System, the official name of the robot arm of the Space Shuttle
- PeA
- periapsis altitude. Altitude of periapsis above the surface of the orbited body, used in Orbit MFD
- PeD
- periapsis distance. See PeR.
- PeR
- periapsis radius. Distance of periapsis from the center of the orbited body, used in Orbit MFD
- PeT
- time to periapsis in seconds, displayed in Orbit MFD
- PG
- Page, switching displayed pages in an MFD mode, used in Align MFD and Ascent profile MFD
- prograde
- PLT
- Pilot
- PMI
- Principal moments of inertia, see PMI
- Pos
- position
- PRJ
- Projection, used in the Orbit MFD to switch orbital display between Ecliptic, Equatorial, Ship's orbit, Target orbit
- PRR
- preliminary requirements review
- PSx
- Payload Specialist x
Q
- QR
- qualification review
R
- R
- mean radius
- specific gas constant
- +R and -R
- Command buttons in RCS attitude MFD (R+) to add a line (pitch, yaw, roll) to the programmed attitude, or R- to remove the last line
- Command buttons in Sync MFD to rotate intersection points
- r0
- atmospheric density at sea level
- Rad
- Displayed in Orbit MFD when Radius mode is selected to indicate distance from the center of the body in meters
- radial distance
- angular unit radians
- RAnm
- true anomaly of reference axis, displayed in Sync MFD
- Rate
- How fast the current orbital plane is changing, degrees per second, used in Align MFD
- RCS
- reaction control system, spacebourne orientation rocket system.
- R&D
- research and development
- RDT&E
- research, development, testing and evaluation
- REF
- Reference
- used in Align MFD, Map MFD, Orbit MFD and Transfer MFD to select a reference body.
- Ref: Reference displayed in Sync MFD to switch Reference axis
- RG
- retrograde
- RInc
- relative inclination, relative inclination between the ship and target orbits, used in Align MFD, Sync MFD, and Transfer MFD
- RKA
- Russian Space Agency
- RMS
- Remote Manipulator System
- RS
- Russian-side, used as prefix for orientation when describing ISS components.
- RSLS
- Redundant set launch sequencer, the computer systems responsible for the ignition of the SSMEs in the Space Shuttle orbiter.
- RTFM
- Read the fine (or many other f-words) manual, a typical forum answer for questions already answered extensivly in the manual.
- RTLS
- Return to launch site, a Space Shuttle abort mode.
- RTN
- Return, command button in RCS attitude MFD to return the display to the Active mode page
- RVel
- relative velocity
- Displayed in Sync MFD, Relative speed between ship and target
S
- SAR
- Search and rescue.
- Syntetic aperture radar, a radar mode used for creating navigation maps or detect slowly moving ground vehicles.
- S/C
- spacecraft
- SC< and SC>
- SCan frequency up or down in the currently selected receiver, used in COMNAV MFD
- SDK
- Software Development Kit [4]
- SDHLV
- Shuttle Derived Heavy Launch Vehicle, see Ares V
- SDLV
- Shuttle Derived Launch Vehicle, see Ares
- SECO
- Secondary Engine Cutoff
- Sustainer Engine Cutoff
- SET
- Set, used in RCS attitude MFD to set the desired attitude
- SHP
- Ship, used in Map MFD to indicate your ship's name, position, altitude, course of your ship
- Sim
- simulation time (in seconds), as seen in the general information display
- a common abbreviation for "simulator"
- Sh-ToR
- ship's time on reference, displayed in Sync MFD to indicate the number of seconds until the ship crosses the reference axis
- SI unit
- The metric system of measurement, the modern name, see SI unit
- SL+ and SL-
- Select, change which receiver to next or previous receiver to adjust frequency, used in COMNAV MFD
- SLF
- shuttle landing facility, see Cape Canaveral
- SMa
- semi-major axis, used in Orbit MFD
- SMi
- semi-minor axis, used in Orbit MFD
- SRB
- Solid Rocket Booster [5]
- SRC
- Source, command button in Transfer MFD to select the source body or vessel
- SRTM
- Shuttle radar topography mission, see SRTM.
- SSME
- Space Shuttle Main Engines [6]
- SSTO
- Single Stage to Orbit
- STOVL
- Short take-off, vertical landing. As performed by the DG on full fuel employing hover thrusters during takeoff.
- STP
- static pressure, given in Pa
- Displayed in Surface MFD to indicate atmospheric pressure
- Stp
- Command button in Transfer MFD to select the number of calculation steps to be used in the HTO calculation
- STS
- space transportation system, AKA space shuttle, see space transportation system
- SUS
- command button in RCS attitude MFD to suspend programmed attitude temporarily
T
- T
- Orbit period, measured in seconds, displayed in Orbit MFD
- Displayed in Transfer MFD to indicate the estimated time elapsed in the HTO calculations
- TAEM
- Terminal Area Energy Management
- TAS
- true air speed True airspeed
- Command button in Surface MFD to set the speed tape to TAS
- TEI
- Trans Earth Injection[7]
- TGT
- TarGeT
- command button used in Align MFD, Docking MFD, Map MFD, Orbit MFD, Sync MFD, and Transfer MFD to select a target
- used in the Map MFD display to indicate target name, position, altitude of the target
- Tg-ToR
- Target's's time on reference, displayed in Sync MFD to indicate the number of seconds until the target crosses the reference axis
- TKS
- russian spacecraft for the Almaz program, see TKS
- TLA
- Three letter acronym for a three letter acronym.
- TLE
- two-line elements
- TLe
- eject longitude, displayed in Transfer MFD
- TLi
- intercept longitude, displayed in Transfer MFD
- TLI
- Trans Lunar Injection
- Tn
- Time to node, used in Align MFD
- TOFS
- tangential offset Docking MFD
- ToR
- time on reference axis, displayed in Sync MFD to indicate number of seconds until ship or target passes the intersection point
- TrA
- true anomaly, displayed in Orbit MFD
- TRK
- Track, used in Map MFD to keep the ship centered in the map display
- TrL
- true longitude, displayed in Orbit MFD and Transfer MFD
- TRL
- technology readiness level
- Ts
- length of siderial day
- TthA
- Estimated thrust time at the ascending node to align planes, used in Align MFD
- TthD
- Estimated thrust time at the descending node to align planes, used in Align MFD
- TVEL
- tangential velocity
U
- UMMU
- Universal manned maneuvering unit, popular add-on, see Universal MMU.
- UNKS
- unknown problems, you are aware of.
- UNK-UNKS
- unknown problems, you are not aware of.
- UP
- UP, used in Map MFD when Track mode is off and map is zoomed in to scroll the map up to see farther North
- Command button in RCS attitude MFD to change the selected modification up so you can edit it
- UPD
- Command button in Transfer MFD to restart the HTO calculation
- UT
- universal time, GMT. Not to be confused with UTC (Universial Time Co-ordinated). The latter is based on atomic clocks not astronomy, hence the occasional leap-second to correct UTC to GMT.
V
- +V and -V
- Used in RCS attitude MFD to add or subtract one degree each click the programmed attitude mode
- VACC
- Vertical acceleration, used in Surface MFD how fast rate of ascent or descent is increasing or decreasing in m/s2
- VASI
- Visual Approach Slope Indicator, the glideslope lighting system ajacent to runways to guide pilots onto the correct angle of glideslope (normally 3 degrees).
- VC
- virtual cockpit
- Visual C++, an IDE and C++ compiler by Microsoft.
- very high frequency omnidirectional radio
- used in the Horizontal Situation Indicator MFD to indicate which VOR transmitter is selected by a NAV radio, if it's selected to a VOR transmitter
- VRR
- Velocity Radial Range, used to manually set the range in the Radial Velocity graph in Ascent profile MFD
- VS
- vertical speed
- Used in Surface MFD to indicate rate of ascent or descent in meters per second
- VSA
- Virtual Space Agency
- VSI
- Vertical Speed Indicator, used in Surface MFD, the VS tape reading rate of ascent or descent, in m/s
- VTOL
- Vertical Take Off and Landing
- VTR
- Velocity Tangential Range, used to manually set the range in the Tangential Velocity Range graph in Ascent profile MFD
W
- WBS
- work breakdown structure
- WPD
- work package description
- Wrp
- time acceleration factor, seen in the general information display
X
- XPDR
- transponder, used in Docking MFD
Y
- YSC
- Yokohama Science Center
Z
- ZM+ and ZM-
- zoom,used in Map MFD to zoom the map display in and out
Contents: Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z