Apollo |
The 1961-1975 space program that followed the Gemini program. |
ASCAN |
Astronaut candidate. |
ATV |
Automated transfer vehicle. A European uncrewed resupply spacecraft. |
C3PO |
Commercial Crew and Cargo Program Office (NASA). |
CCDev |
Commercial Crew Development. |
CoFR |
Certification of Flight Readiness. |
COTS |
Commercial Orbital Transportation Services. |
CRM |
Crew resource management. |
CSA |
Canadian Space Agency. |
CST-100 |
Space capsule in development by Boeing; it could carry up to seven astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) and launch from a variety of rockets, including Atlas, Delta, and Falcon 9 rockets. |
Cygnus |
Space capsule in development by Orbital Sciences; it is designed to carry cargo from the Earth to the ISS and to dispose of ISS waste. It is not, however, designed for reentry into Earth’s atmosphere and will not transport cargo back to Earth. |
Dragon |
Space capsule in development by Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX); it is designed to carry cargo to and from the ISS. |
Dream Chaser |
Spacecraft in development by Sierra Nevada Corporation; it is designed to launch from an Atlas V launch vehicle and to carry up to seven astronauts and cargo to the ISS. It will return to Earth by way of a conventional runway landing, allowing it to bring back cargo from the ISS. |
ESA |
European Space Agency. |
EVA |
Extravehicular activity. Also known as a “spacewalk.” |
FCOD |
Flight Crew Operations Directorate. Located at the NASA Johnson Space Center. |
FRR |
Flight Readiness Review |
Gemini |
The 1965-1966 space program that was the follow-up to the Mercury program. Gemini missions included the first spacewalk. |
GRT | Generic robotics training. |
HTV |
H-II Transfer Vehicle. A Japanese uncrewed resupply spacecraft. |
ISS |
International Space Station. |
JAXA |
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. |
JSC |
Johnson Space Center. |
LEO |
Low Earth orbit. Generally considered to be between 160 and 2,000 km above Earth’s surface. |
MCC |
Mission Control Center. Located at the NASA Johnson Space Center. |
Mercury |
First human spaceflight program in the United States; it ran from 1959 to 1963 and included the first American to orbit Earth. |
Mir |
Russian space station, operational from 1986 to 2001. |
MMR |
Minimum Manifest Requirement. The minimum number of astronauts required to sustain a human spaceflight operation as determined by model input, including spaceflight program requirements and the 5-year rotation plan (see Chapter 2). |
MOD |
Mission Operations Directorate. Located at the NASA Johnson Space Center. |
MPCV |
Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (NASA). It is based on the design of the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle. |
NASA |
National Aeronautics and Space Administration. |
NBL |
Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory. Located at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, it is an astronaut training facility consisting of a large indoor pool of water used to simulate a low-gravity environment during astronaut training in the performance of various mission tasks. |
NRC |
National Research Council. |
Orion |
Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle. This spacecraft, in development by Lockheed Martin, is designed to carry four astronauts to the Moon or six astronauts to the ISS and to sustain a crew for 21.1 days. |
PMMT |
Pre-launch Mission Management Team. |
RMS |
Remote Manipulator System. Also known as the robotic arm used on the space shuttle. |
RSA |
Russian Space Agency. |
SES Dome |
Shuttle Engineering Simulator Dome. |
SFRT |
Spaceflight readiness training. Operational environments in which the crew is trained for spaceflight. |
Skylab |
Crewed U.S. space station in orbit from 1973 to 1979. |
SLS |
Space Launch System. |
SORR |
Stage Operations Readiness Review. |
Soyuz |
Russian spacecraft used since the 1960s to deliver cosmonauts and astronauts to space. |
Spacelab |
Reusable laboratory that flew on 22 space shuttle flights from November 1983 to August 1998. |
SSPCB |
Space Studies Program Control Board. |
Star City |
The site of the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Russia. |
T-38N |
Two-person jet specifically outfitted for NASA’s astronaut training needs. |
UPT |
Undergraduate Pilot Training. |