The Space Shuttle Decision: Abbreviations and Acronyms

by T. A. Heppenheimer

AACB Aeronautics and Astronautics Coordinating Board (USAF-NASA)
AAF Army Air Forces
AAS American Astronautical Society
AB, A/B airbreathing
ABES Air Breathing Engine System (jet engine)
ACPS attitude control propulsion system
AEC Atomic Energy Commission
AFB Air Force Base
AFL-CIO American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations
AFSC Air Force Systems Command (USAF)
AIAA American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
APU auxiliary propulsion unit
ARDC Air Research and Development Command (USAF)
ASSET Aerothermodynamic/elastic Structural Systems Environmental Tests
ATM Apollo Telescope Mount (Skylab)
ATSC Air Technical Service Command (USAF)
AT&T American Telephone and Telegraph Company
BOB Bureau of the Budget
BTU British thermal unit
CASI Center for Aerospace Information
CD certificate of deposit
CIA Central Intelligence Agency
deg degree
DOD Department of Defense
EC/LS environmental control/life support
ENG engine
°F Fahrenheit degrees
F-1 rocket engine designation
FAA Federal Aviation Agency; after 1967, Federal Aviation Administration
FDL Flight Dynamics Laboratory (Wright-Patterson AFB)
ft foot
FWD forward
FY Fiscal Year
GD General Dynamics Corporation
GE General Electric Company
GLOW gross liftoff weight
He helium
HO hydrogen-oxygen
HQ headquarters
HS Haynes Stellite (a class of superalloys)
IBM International Business Machines Corporation
ICBM intercontinental ballistic missile
IDA Institute for Defense Analyses
J-2 rocket engine designation
JFK John F. Kennedy
JP Jet Propellant (grade of jet fuel)
JPL Jet Propulsion Laboratory
K thousand
KISS Keep It Simple, Stupid
LACE liquid air cycle engine
LBJ Lyndon Baines Johnson
lb pound
LC launch complex (Cape Canaveral)
L/D lift-to-drag ratio
LH, LH2 liquid hydrogen
LM Lunar Module (Apollo)
LN2 liquid nitrogen
LO2, LOX liquid oxygen
MIT Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MOL Manned Orbiting Laboratory
MOM Manned Orbiting Module
MORL Manned Orbiting Research Laboratory
M.P. Member of Parliament
MR mixture ratio (rocket propellants)
MSC Manned Spacecraft Center (NASA)
MSFC Marshall Space Flight Center (NASA)
MW megawatts
NACA National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NASC National Aeronautics and Space Council
NERVA Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application
NMI NASA Management Instruction
n.mi. nautical miles
NRO National Reconnaissance Office
NSC National Security Council
NSF National Science Foundation
NTOP New Technology Opportunities Program
OEO Office of Economic Opportunity
OMB Office of Management and Budget
OMS orbital maneuvering system
OMSF Office of Manned Space Flight (NASA)
OSSA Office of Space Science and Applications (NASA)
OST Office of Science and Technology (White House)
OWS orbital workshop (Skylab)
PARD Pilotless Aircraft Research Division (NACA-Langley)
PCG Planning Coordination Group (NASA HQ)
PRIME Precision Recovery Including Maneuvering Entry
PSAC President’s Science Advisory Committee
PSG Planning Steering Group (NASA HQ)
psi pounds per square inch
PTA Parent-Teacher Association
R and D research and development
RATO Rocket-Assisted Takeoff
RDT&E research, development, test and engineering
RFP Request for Proposal
RL-10 rocket engine designation
ROMBUS Reusable Orbital Module, Booster, and Utility Shuttle
RP Rocket Propellant (rocket-grade kerosene)
rpm revolutions per minute
SAB Scientific Advisory Board (USAF)
SCLC Southern Christian Leadership Conference
sec second
SHHDC Shuttle History Historical Documents Collection (NASA-MSFC)
S-IC first stage of the Saturn V
S-II second stage of the Saturn V
S-IVB third stage of the Saturn V
SNECMA Societe National d’Etude et de Construction de la Moteurs d’Aviation (France)
SP Special Publication (NASA)
SRM solid rocket motor
SSD Space Systems Division (USAF)
SSME Space Shuttle Main Engine
SST supersonic transport
STAC Science and Technology Advisory Committee (NASA HQ)
STG Space Task Group
TAHO Thrust Assisted Hydrogen-Oxygen
TAOS Thrust Assisted Orbiter Shuttle
TEMPO Technical Military Planning Operation (GE)
TPS thermal protection system
TRW Thompson Ramo Wooldridge, Incorporated
TVC thrust vector control
TWA Trans World Airlines
U.S. United States
USAF United States Air Force
USS United States Ship (Navy)
VAB Vehicle Assembly Building (Kennedy Space Center)
v.p. vice president
wt weight
XLR Experimental Liquid Rocket
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