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Suggested Citation:"Appendix F: Acronyms and Abbreviations." National Research Council. 2014. Pathways to Exploration: Rationales and Approaches for a U.S. Program of Human Space Exploration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18801.
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F

Acronyms and Abbreviations

ARM Asteroid Redirect Mission
ASPCO Asian Pacific Space Cooperation Organization
ASTP Apollo-Soyuz Test Project
ATV Automated Transfer Vehicle
CAIB Columbia Accident Investigation Board
CASIS Center for the Advancement of Science in Space
DARPA Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
DOD Department of Defense
DOE Department of Energy
DRA Design Reference Architecture
DRM Design Reference Mission
ECLSS environmental, control, and life support system (or systems)
EDL entry, descent, and landing
ELIPS European Programme for Life and Physical Science in Space
EM Exploration Mission
EPO Education and Public Outreach
ESA European Space Agency
ETD Exploration Technology Development
EVA Extravehicular Activity
FY fiscal year
GAO General Accountability Office
GCR galactic cosmic radiation
GER Global Exploration Roadmap
GNP gross national product
Suggested Citation:"Appendix F: Acronyms and Abbreviations." National Research Council. 2014. Pathways to Exploration: Rationales and Approaches for a U.S. Program of Human Space Exploration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18801.
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GPS Global Positioning System
GSS General Social Survey
HEOMD Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate
HRP Human Research Program
HTV H-II Transfer Vehicle
ISECG International Space Exploration Coordination Group
Isp specific impulse
ISRU in situ resource utilization
ISS International Space Station
kW kilowatt
L1 Lagrangian point 1
L2 Lagrangian point 2
LEAG Lunar Exploration Analysis Group
LEO low Earth orbit
LSAY Longitudinal Study of American Youth
MEPAG Mars Exploration Program and Analysis Group
MIT Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MOL Manned Orbiting Laboratory
MPCV Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle
MSL Mars Science Laboratory
MT metric ton
MW megawatt
NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NCRP National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements
NEA near-Earth asteroid
NEO near-Earth object
NEP nuclear electric propulsion
NERVA Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application
NRC National Research Council
NRO National Reconnaissance Office
NSF National Science Foundation
NTP nuclear thermal propulsion
OIG Office of the Inspector General
SEP solar electric propulsion
SLS Space Launch System
SPE solar particle event
STEM science, technology, engineering, and mathematics
STG Space Task Group
STMD Space Technology Mission Directorate
Sv Sievert
Suggested Citation:"Appendix F: Acronyms and Abbreviations." National Research Council. 2014. Pathways to Exploration: Rationales and Approaches for a U.S. Program of Human Space Exploration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18801.
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Page 231
Suggested Citation:"Appendix F: Acronyms and Abbreviations." National Research Council. 2014. Pathways to Exploration: Rationales and Approaches for a U.S. Program of Human Space Exploration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18801.
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Page 232
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The United States has publicly funded its human spaceflight program on a continuous basis for more than a half-century, through three wars and a half-dozen recessions, from the early Mercury and Gemini suborbital and Earth orbital missions, to the lunar landings, and thence to the first reusable winged crewed spaceplane that the United States operated for three decades. Today the United States is the major partner in a massive orbital facility - the International Space Station - that is becoming the focal point for the first tentative steps in commercial cargo and crewed orbital space flights. And yet, the long-term future of human spaceflight beyond this project is unclear. Pronouncements by multiple presidents of bold new ventures by Americans to the Moon, to Mars, and to an asteroid in its native orbit, have not been matched by the same commitment that accompanied President Kennedy's now fabled 1961 speech-namely, the substantial increase in NASA funding needed to make it happen. Are we still committed to advancing human spaceflight? What should a long-term goal be, and what does the United States need to do to achieve it?

Pathways to Exploration explores the case for advancing this endeavor, drawing on the history of rationales for human spaceflight, examining the attitudes of stakeholders and the public, and carefully assessing the technical and fiscal realities. This report recommends maintaining the long-term focus on Mars as the horizon goal for human space exploration. With this goal in mind, the report considers funding levels necessary to maintain a robust tempo of execution, current research and exploration projects and the time/resources needed to continue them, and international cooperation that could contribute to the achievement of spaceflight to Mars. According to Pathways to Exploration, a successful U.S. program would require sustained national commitment and a budget that increases by more than the rate of inflation.

In reviving a U.S. human exploration program capable of answering the enduring questions about humanity's destiny beyond our tiny blue planet, the nation will need to grapple with the attitudinal and fiscal realities of the nation today while staying true to a small but crucial set of fundamental principles for the conduct of exploration of the endless frontier. The recommendations of Pathways to Exploration provide a clear map toward a human spaceflight program that inspires students and citizens by furthering human exploration and discovery, while taking into account the long-term commitment necessary to achieve this goal.

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