Astronomy Acronyms

Alphabetical Listing of Astronomy Acronyms

• PTC — Passive Thermal Control
• PV — Photovoltaic
• PVO — Pioneer Venus Orbiter / Protivo-Vosdushniya Oborona
• QSO — Quasi-Stellar Object
• RA — Right Ascension
• RAE — Royal Aerospace Establishment
• RAL — Rutherford-Appleton Laboratory
• RAS — Royal Astronomical Society
• RASC — Royal Astronomical Society of Canada
• RCC — Reinforced Carbon-Carbon
• RCI — Rodent Cage Interface
• RCS — Reaction Control System / Revision Control System
• RCT — Radiometric Calibration Target
• REM — Rat Enclosure Module
• RESTEC — Remote Sensing Technology Center
• RF — Radio Frequency
• RFI — Radio Frequency Interference
• RFM — Reconfigurable Furnace Module
• RFNA — Red Fuming Nitric Acid
• RG — Red Giant
• RGB — Red Giant Branch
• RHC — Rotational Hand Controller
• RIACS — Research Institute For Advanced Computer Science
• RKA — Rossiskoye Kosmicheskoye Agentsvo
• RMCD — Radaiation Monitoring Container Device
• RME — Radiation Monitoring Experiment
• RMS — Remote Manipulator System
• RNGC — Revised New General Catalog
• ROSAT — ROentgen Satellite
• ROUS — Rodents of Unusual Size
• RPM — Retro Propulsion Module
• RSN — Radio SuperNova
• RTG — Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator
• RTLS — Return To Launch Site
• RVSN — Raketniye Voiska Stratigcheskovo Naznacheniya
• S — Spiral (for Galaxies)
• S/C — SpaceCraft
• SAA — South Atlantic Anomaly / Single Access Antenna
• SAGA — Solar Array Gain Augmentation
• SAIL — Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory
• SAM — Shuttle Activation Monitor
• SAMPEX — Solar Anomalous And Magnetospheric Particle EXplorer
• SAMS — Space Acceleration Measurement System
• SAO — Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
• SAR — Search And Rescue / Synthetic Aperture Radar
• SARA — Satellite Pour Astronomie Radio Amateur
• SAREX — Search And Rescue Exercise / Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment
• SAS — Space Activity Suit / Space Adaptation Syndrome
• SAT — Synthetic Aperture Telescope
• SB — Spiral
• SBIR — Small Business Innovation Research
• SCA — Shuttle Carrier Aircraft
• SCT — Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope
• SDI — Strategic Defense Initiative
• SDIO — Strategic Defense Initiative Organization
• SDSS — Sloan Digital Sky Survey
• SECO — Sustainer Engine Cutoff
• SEDS — Students For The Exploration And Development of Space
• SEI — Space Exploration Initiative
• SEM — Space Environment Monitor
• SEP — Societe Europeenne De Propulsion
• SEPAC — Space Experiments With Particle Accelerators
• SEST — Swedish ESO Submillimeter Telescope
• SETI — Search For ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence
• SHARE — Space Station Heat Pipe Advanced Radiator Element
• SID — Sudden Ionospheric Disturbance
• SIR — Shuttle Imaging Radar
• SIRTF — Space InfraRed Telescope Facility
• SIXA — Silicon X-ray Array
• SL — (Comet) Shoemaker-Levy / SpaceLab
• SL-J — SpaceLab Japan
• SLAP — Space Link Access Protocol
• SLAR — Side-Looking Airborne Radar
• SLC — Space Launch Complex
• SLF — Shuttle Landing Facility
• SLS — Space(lab) Life Sciences
• SMC — Small Magellanic Cloud
• SME — Solar Mesosphere Explorer
• SMEX — Small EXplorers
• SMM — Solar Maximum Mission
• SMS — Shuttle Mission Simulator
• SN — SuperNova
• SNG — Sodruzhestva Nezabisimikh Gosudarst
• SNR — Signal To Noise Ratio / SuperNova Remnant
• SNU — Solar Neutrino Units
• SOB — Strap-On Booster
• SOCC — Satellite Operations Control Center
• SOFI — Spray-on Foam Insulation
• SOFIA — Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy
• SOHO — SOlar Heliospheric Observatory
• SOLSTICE — Solar Stellar Irradiance Comparison Experiment
• SPAN — Space Physics And Analysis Network
• SPARTAN — Shuttle Pointed Autonomous Research Tool For Astronomy
• SPAS — Space Pallet Satellite
• SPDM — Special Purpose Dextrous Manipulator
• SPH — Smoothed-Particle Hydrodynamics
• SPOT — Systeme Probatoire Pour L’Observation De La Terre
• SPS — Solar Power Satellite
• SPTN — SPARTAN
• SR — Special Relativity