Glossary

AFB Air Force Base
AMSAT The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation
AOS Acquisition of Signal, Appear on Sky
ARISS Amateur Radio on The International Space Station
ARRL American Radio Relay League
ASL Above Sea Level
AU Astronomical Unit (1 AU = 149 597 871 km)
COBE Cosmic Background Explorer - US satellite for cosmic microwave background research
COSPAR The Comittee on Space Research
CSA Canadian Space Agency
Decimal degrees Degrees and its parts - angle notation (10.5036°)
DMS Degrees, Minutes, Seconds - angle notation (10°30'13")
DST Daylight Saving Time
EAFB Edwards Air Force Base
ECI Earth Centered Inertial - coordinate system used for position and velocity vectors of satellite
EROS Earth Resources Observation System
ESA European Space Agency
ETA Estimated Time of Arrival
ET External Tank
EVA Extravehicular Activities
GEO Geosynchronous Earth Orbit
GIS Geographic Information System
GLONASS Global Navigation System - Russian GPS equivalent
GOES Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite
GTO Geostationary Transfer Orbit
GMT Greenwich Meridian Time, see also UTC
GMST Greenwich Mean Sidereal Time
GPS Global Positioning System
GSO Geostationary Orbit
GST Greenwich Sideral Time
HEO High Earth Orbit
HETE High-Energy Transient Experiment
HMS Hours, Minutes, Seconds - angle notation used for RA output (10h 12m 13s)
HST Hubble Space Telescope (NORAD# 20580)
IARU International Amateur Radio Union
IAU International Astronomical Union
IAU 76 International Astronomical Union (System of Astronomical Constants - 1976)
INPE Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (National Space Research Institute, Brazil)
ISS International Space Station (NORAD# 25544)
JAXA Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
JD Julian Date (date as day number and time as fraction of day, e.g. 2453318.28080)
JSC Johnson Space Center
KSC Kennedy Space Center
LCL, LT Local Time
LEO Low Earth Orbit
LOS Loss of Signal
LST Local Sideral Time
LMLV Lockheed Martin Launch Vehicle
LMST Local Mean Sidereal Time
MCC Mission Control Center
MECO Main Engine Cutoff
MEO Mid Earth Orbit, semi-synchronous orbit
MET Maximum Elevation Time (middle of pass); Mission Elapsed Time
MPLM Multi-Purpose Logistics Module
NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NASDA National Space Development Agency (Japan's organization for commercial launches)
NAVSTAR Navigation System with Time And Range (original name for GPS)
NMEA National Marine Electronics Association
NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
NOSS Naval Ocean Surveillance System
NORAD North American Air Defense
NSSC NORAD Space Surveillance Center
PAM Payload Assist Module
OMS Orbital Maneuvering System
QTH Location of ground station in amateur radio jargon
RA Right Ascension
RAAN Right Ascension of the Ascending Node
RCS Radar Cross Section
R/B Rocket body
SatCat Satellite Catalog
SDP4 Simplified Deep-space Perturbations - prediction model using for satellites with period greater than 225 minutes
SGP4 Simplified General Perturbations - prediction model using for satellites with period less than 225 minutes
SMA Semi-Major Axis - half of the longest linear dimension of ellipse
SOCRATES Satellite Orbital Conjunction Reports Assessing Threatening Encounters in Space
SOHO The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory
SRB Solid Rocket Boosters
SSME Space Shuttle Main Engines
STS Space Transport System - American space Shuttle program
TCA Time of Closest Approach
TDRSS Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System
TLE Two Line Element - format for storage satellite orbit data necessary for SGP/SDP prediction
USSPACECOM United States Space Command
UTC, UT Coordinated Universal Time, mean solar time of Greenwich meridian
WGS 84 World Geodetic System 1984
ZOE Zone of Exclusion

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