| A |
| AAO | Anglo-Australian Observatory |
| AAS | American Astronomical Society |
| AAS | American Astronautical Society |
| AAVSO | American Association of Variable Star Observers |
| ACE | Advanced Composition Explorer |
| ADFRF | Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility (now DFRC) (NASA) |
| AGN | Active Galactic Nucleus |
| AGU | American Geophysical Union |
| AIAA | American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics |
| AIPS | Astronomical Image Processing System |
| AJ | Astronomical Journal |
| ALEXIS | Array of Low Energy X-ray Imaging Sensors |
| ALPO | Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers |
| ANSI | American National Standards Institute |
| Ap.J | Astrophysical Journal |
| ARC | Ames Research Center (NASA) |
| ARC | Astrophysical Research Consortium |
| ARTEMIS | Advanced Relay TEchnology MISsion |
| ASA | Astronomical Society of the Atlantic |
| ASI | Agenzia Spaziale Italiana |
| ASP | Astronomical Society of the Pacific |
| ATDRS | Advanced Tracking and Data Relay Satellite |
| ATLAS | Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science |
| AURA | Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy |
| AW&ST | Aviation Week and Space Technology |
| AXAF | Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility |
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| B |
| BAe | British Aerospace |
| BBXRT | Broad-Band X-Ray Telescope (ASTRO package) |
| BH | Black Hole |
| BIMA | Berkeley Illinois Maryland Array |
| BNSC | British National Space Centre |
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| C |
| CARA | Center for Astrophysical Research in Antarctica |
| CCAFS | Cape Canaveral Air Force Station |
| CCDS | Centers for the Commercial Development of Space |
| CFA | Center For Astrophysics |
| CFHT | Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope |
| CGRO | (Arthur Holley) Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (was GRO) |
| CHARA | Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy |
| CIT | Circumstellar Imaging Telescope |
| CMBR | Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation |
| CMCC | Central Mission Control Centre (ESA) |
| CNES | Centre National d'Etude Spatiales |
| COBE | Cosmic Background Explorer |
| COMPTEL | COMPton TELescope (on CGRO) |
| CRAF | Comet Rendezvous / Asteroid Flyby |
| CRRES | Combined Release / Radiation Effects Satellite |
| CSTC | Consolidated Satellite Test Center (USAF) |
| CTIO | Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory |
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| D |
| DC | Delta Clipper |
| DCX | Delta Clipper eXperimental |
| DFRC | Dryden Flight Research Center |
| DFRF | Dryden Flight Research Facility (was ADFRF, now DFRC) |
| DMSP | Defense Meteorological Satellite Program |
| DOD | Department Of Defense (sometimes DoD) |
| DOE | Department Of Energy |
| DOT | Department Of Transportation |
| DSCS | Defense Satellite Communications System |
| DSN | Deep Space Network |
| DSP | Defense Support Program (USAF/NRO) |
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| E |
| EAFB | Edwards Air Force Base |
| EDO | Extended Duration Orbiter |
| EGRET | Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment Telescope (on CGRO) |
| EJASA | Electronic Journal of the Astronomical Society of the Atlantic |
| EOS | Earth Observing System |
| ERS | Earth Resources Satellite (as in ERS-1) |
| ESA | European Space Agency |
| ESIS | European Space Information System |
| ESO | European Southern Observatory |
| ETR | Eastern Test Range |
| EUV | Extreme UltraViolet |
| EUVE | Extreme UltraViolet Explorer |
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| F |
| FAST | Fast Auroral SnapshoT explorer |
| FIR | Far InfraRed |
| FITS | Flexible Image Transport System |
| FOC | Faint Object Camera (on HST) |
| FOS | Faint Object Spectrograph (on HST) |
| FRC | Flight Research Center (old name for DFRC) |
| FUSE | Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer |
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| G |
| GBT | Green Bank Telescope |
| GCVS | General Catalog of Variable Stars |
| GEM | Giotto Extended Mission |
| GEO | Geosynchronous Earth Orbit |
| GDS | Great Dark Spot |
| GHRS | Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph (on HST) |
| GLOMR | Global Low-Orbiting Message Relay |
| GMC | Giant Molecular Cloud |
| GMRT | Giant Meter-wave Radio Telescope |
| GMT | Greenwich Mean Time (also called UT) |
| GOES | Geostationary Orbiting Environmental Satellite |
| GPS | Global Positioning System |
| GRO | Gamma Ray Observatory (now CGRO) |
| GRS | Gamma Ray Spectrometer (on Mars Observer) |
| GRS | Great Red Spot |
| GSC | Guide Star Catalog (for HST) |
| GSFC | Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA) |
| GTO | Geostationary Transfer Orbit |
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| H |
| HAO | High Altitude Observatory |
| HD | Henry Draper catalog entry |
| HEAO | High Energy Astronomical Observatory |
| HeRA | Hermes Robotic Arm |
| HMC | Halley Multicolor Camera (on Giotto) |
| HRMS | High Resolution Microwave Survey |
| HRI | High Resolution Imager (on ROSAT) |
| HSP | High Speed Photometer (on HST) |
| HST | Hubble Space Telescope |
| HUT | Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (ASTRO package) |
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| I |
| IAPPP | International Amateur/Professional Photoelectric Photometry |
| IAU | International Astronomical Union |
| IAUC | IAU Circular |
| ICE | International Cometary Explorer |
| IDA | International Dark-sky Association |
| IDL | Interactive Data Language |
| IGM | InterGalactic Medium |
| IGY | International Geophysical Year |
| IMO | International Meteor Organization |
| IOTA | Infrared-Optical Telescope Array |
| IOTA | International Occultation Timing Association |
| IRAF | Image Reduction and Analysis Facility |
| IRAS | InfraRed Astronomical Satellite |
| ISAS | Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (Japan) |
| ISO | Infrared Space Observatory |
| ISO | International Standards Organization |
| ISPM | International Solar Polar Mission (now Ulysses) |
| IUE | International Ultraviolet Explorer |
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| J |
| JEM | Japanese Experiment Module (for SSF) |
| JGR | Journal of Geophysical Research |
| JILA | Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics |
| JPL | Jet Propulsion Laboratory |
| JSC | Johnson Space Center (NASA) |
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| K |
| KAO | Kuiper Airborne Observatory |
| KPNO | Kitt Peak National Observatory |
| KSC | Kennedy Space Center (NASA) |
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| L |
| LANL | Los Alamos National Laboratory |
| LaRC | Langley Research Center (NASA) |
| LEO | Low Earth Orbit |
| LeRC | Lewis Research Center (NASA) |
| LLNL | Lawrence-Livermore National Laboratory |
| LMC | Large Magellanic Cloud |
| LPO | La Palma Observatory |
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| M |
| M | Messier (as in M31, M13, M57, etc.) |
| MMT | Multiple Mirror Telescope |
| MNRAS | Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society |
| MOC | Mars Observer Camera (on Mars Observer) |
| MOL | Manned Orbiting Laboratory |
| MOLA | Mars Observer Laser Altimeter (on Mars Observer) |
| MPC | Minor Planets Circular |
| MRSR | Mars Rover and Sample Return |
| MRSRM | Mars Rover and Sample Return Mission |
| MSFC | (George C.) Marshall Space Flight Center (NASA) |
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| N |
| NACA | National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (became NASA) |
| NASA | National Aeronautics and Space Administration |
| NASDA | NAtional Space Development Agency (Japan) |
| NASM | National Air and Space Museum |
| NBS | National Bureau of Standards (now NIST) |
| NGC | New General Catalog |
| NICMOS | Near Infrared Camera / Multi Object Spectrometer (HST upgrade) |
| NIMS | Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (on Galileo) |
| NIR | Near InfraRed |
| NIST | National Institute for Standards and Technology (was NBS) |
| NLDP | National Launch Development Program |
| NOAA | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |
| NOAO | National Optical Astronomy Observatories |
| NORAD | NORth American aerospace Defense |
| NRAO | National Radio Astronomy Observatory |
| NRO | National Reconnaissance Office |
| NS | Neutron Star |
| NSA | National Security Agency |
| NSF | National Science Foundation |
| NSO | National Solar Observatory |
| NSSDC | National Space Science Data Center |
| NTT | New Technology Telescope |
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| O |
| OAO | Orbiting Astronomical Observatory |
| OCST | Office of Commercial Space Transportation |
| ORFEUS | Orbiting and Retrievable Far and Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrometer |
| OSC | Orbital Sciences Corporation |
| OSSA | Office of Space Science and Applications |
| OSSE | Oriented Scintillation Spectrometer Experiment (on CGRO) |
| OTA | Optical Telescope Assembly (on HST) |
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| P |
| PDS | Planetary Data System |
| PMIRR | Pressure Modulated InfraRed Radiometer (on Mars Observer) |
| PPM | Positions and Proper Motions (catalog) |
| PSR | PulSaR |
| PVO | Pioneer Venus Orbiter |
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| Q |
| QSO | Quasi-Stellar Object |
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| R |
| RAS | Royal Astronomical Society |
| RASC | Royal Astronomical Society of Canada |
| RIACS | Research Institute for Advanced Computer Science |
| RMS | Remote Manipulator System |
| RNGC | Revised New General Catalog |
| ROSAT | ROentgen SATellite |
| RSN | Radio SuperNova |
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| S |
| SAA | South Atlantic Anomaly |
| SAGA | Solar Array Gain Augmentation (for HST) |
| SAMPEX | Solar Anomalous and Magnetospheric Particle EXplorer |
| SAO | Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory |
| SAR | Synthetic Aperture Radar |
| SARA | Satellite pour Astronomie Radio Amateur |
| SAREX | Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment |
| SAT | Synthetic Aperture Telescope |
| SCT | Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope |
| SDI | Strategic Defense Initiative |
| SDIO | Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (now BMDO) |
| SEDS | Students for the Exploration and Development of Space |
| SEI | Space Exploration Initiative |
| SEST | Swedish ESO Submillimeter Telescope |
| SETI | Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence |
| SID | Sudden Ionospheric Disturbance |
| SIR | Shuttle Imaging Radar |
| SIRTF | Space (formerly Shuttle) InfraRed Telescope Facility |
| SL | Shoemaker-Levy (Comet) |
| SL | SpaceLab |
| SMC | Small Magellanic Cloud |
| SME | Solar Mesosphere Explorer |
| SMEX | SMall EXplorers Program |
| SMM | Solar Maximum Mission |
| SN | SuperNova (e.g., SN1987A) |
| SNR | SuperNova Remnant |
| SNU | Solar Neutrino Units |
| SOFIA | Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy |
| SOHO | SOlar Heliospheric Observatory |
| SPAN | Space Physics and Analysis Network |
| SPOT | Systeme Probatoire pour l'Observation de la Terre |
| SPS | Solar Power Satellite |
| SSI | Solid-State Imager (on Galileo) |
| SSI | Space Studies Institute |
| SSPS | Sky Survey Prototype System |
| SSRMS | Space Station Remote Manipulator System |
| SSRT | Single Stage Rocket Technology |
| SST | Spectroscopic Survey Telescope |
| SST | SuperSonic Transport |
| STIS | Space Telescope Imaging Spectrometer (to replace FOC and GHRS) |
| STScI | Space Telescope Science Institute |
| STSDAS | Space Telescope Science Data Analysis System |
| SWAS | Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite |
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| T |
| TAU | Thousand Astronomical Unit (mission) |
| TDRS | Tracking and Data Relay Satellite |
| TDRSS | Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System |
| TES | Thermal Emission Spectrometer (on Mars Observer) |
| TIROS | Television InfraRed Observation Satellite |
| TOMS | Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer |
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| U |
| UARS | Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite |
| UFO | Unidentified Flying Object |
| UGC | Uppsala General Catalog |
| UIT | Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (Astro package) |
| UKST | United Kingdom Schmidt Telescope |
| USAF | United States Air Force |
| USMP | United States Microgravity Payload |
| UT | Universal Time (a.k.a. GMT, or Zulu Time; cf UTC) |
| UTC | Coordinated Universal Time (subtly different from UT) |
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| V |
| VAFB | Vandenberg Air Force Base |
| VEEGA | Venus-Earth-Earth Gravity Assist (Galileo flight path) |
| VHF | Very High Frequency |
| VLA | Very Large Array |
| VLBA | Very Long Baseline Array |
| VLBI | Very Long Baseline Interferometry |
| VLF | Very Low Frequency |
| VLT | Very Large Telescope |
| VOIR | Venus Orbiting Imaging Radar (superseded by VRM) |
| VRM | Venus Radar Mapper (now called Magellan) |
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| W |
| WD | White Dwarf |
| WFF | Wallops Flight Facility |
| WFPC | Wide Field / Planetary Camera (on HST) |
| WFPCII | Replacement for WFPC |
| WIYN | Wisconsin / Indiana / Yale / NOAO telescope |
| WR | Western Range (was WTR) |
| WSMR | White Sands Missile Range |
| WTR | Western Test Range |
| WUPPE | Wisconsin Ultraviolet PhotoPolarimter Experiment (Astro package) |
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| X |
| XMM | X-ray Multi Mirror |
| XUV | eXtreme UltraViolet |
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| Y |
| YSO | Young Stellar Object |
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| Z |
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