Glossary
ASAT: Anti-Satellite weapons
ASCAN: Astronaut Candidate. Yes, they pronounce it “ass can.”
AU: Astronomical Unit, used to measure distances within our Solar System. It’s the average distance between Earth and our Sun, 93 million miles.
Apoapsis: The highest point of an elliptical orbit. For Earth-centered orbits, it’s called apogee.
CCAP: Climate Change Action Plan. A fictional multinational effort to deploy massive sunshades in orbit around Earth to cool the planet.
CDR: Spacecraft Commander
CG: Center of Gravity. The balance point of an aircraft or spacecraft.
CNSA: China National Space Administration
DAISE: Distributed Artificial Intelligence Surveillance Environment
Delta-v (∆v): Change in velocity. An essential measurement of a spacecraft’s ability to get anywhere, it’s an expression of both the amount of fuel in the tanks and how much velocity change is needed to perform a given maneuver. The delta-v budget is a space mission’s ultimate limiting factor: if a ship needs 3 kilometers per second velocity change to leave orbit, and it only has enough fuel for 2.9 kps, it’s not leaving orbit.
DG: Directional Gyroscope
DMO-1: Dark Matter Object One, the semi-official designation of the gravitational anomaly where the elusive Planet Nine was thought to be.
ECLSS: Environmental Control and Life Support System. Put simply, it’s a collection of devices that regenerates water and oxygen. It recycles waste air and water (guess what that means), which significantly reduces the amount to be loaded on a spacecraft.
EM: Electromagnetic Radiation
EMS: Emergency Medical System. An automated critical-care pod aboard Magellan and Columbus.
EVA: Extra-Vehicular Activity. A spacewalk.
FBO: Fixed-Base Operator. A gas station and service center for private aircraft.
FMC: Flight Management Computer
g: Acceleration of gravity as measured at Earth’s surface, 9.8 meters per second squared.
GEO: Geosynchronous orbit. An equatorial orbit high enough that the satellite’s velocity matches the rotation of Earth, keeping it above the same spot on the globe. Commonly used by weather and communications satellites.
Hill Sphere: The region where an astronomical body’s gravity dominates the attraction of satellites.
IAU: International Astronomical Union. The astronomers who, among other things, decide on the naming conventions of planets and other objects.
ISS: International Space Station. In orbit since the late 1990’s, it’s getting a bit long in the tooth and I’m told insiders jokingly describe it as “Cattlecar Galactica.”
JSC: Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The NASA center for manned spaceflight.
KPS: Kilometers per second.
KSC: Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. America’s first spaceport.
LEO: Low Earth Orbit.
Leeroy Jenkins: An infamous World of Warcraft character, notable for blindly charging into combat, bellowing his own name as a battle cry while completely ignoring his teammate’s meticulous plans.
Libration (or Lagrange) Point: There are five regions (designated L-1, L-2, etc.) where the gravity of the Sun and Earth essentially cancel each other out, creating stable zones where it is most economical to place a spacecraft. This goes for any system where smaller bodies orbit larger bodies, such as the Earth and Moon, Sun and Mars, etc.
Lidar: Similar in concept to radar, a method for determining the distance to an object by targeting it with a laser and measuring the time for the reflected light to return to the receiver.
Light year: The distance light travels in one year, 5.88 trillion miles.
Max Q: Maximum Dynamic Pressure. The period when a vehicle moving through the atmosphere experiences the maximum atmospheric load as a function of its speed. This typically occurs around Mach One, the speed of sound.
Mo Board: Slang for “maneuvering board.” Borrowed from the Navy, it’s a polar (circular) graph of the relative positions of any vessels operating around an individual ship. A rather important tool to prevent collisions.
MPS: Meters per second.
MSEV: Manned Space Exploration Vehicle. A concept NASA developed for future long-duration missions, think of it as a “space dinghy.”
NGO: Non-Governmental Organization
OMS: Orbital Maneuvering System. A collection of rocket motors more powerful than attitude thrusters, used to change orbits.
OSEP: Outer Space Environmental Protection Treaty, a fictional treaty restricting deep-space expeditions to areas which have previously had a human presence.
Parsec: A measurement unit of distances beyond our Solar System, approximately 3.26 light years.
Periapsis: The lowest point of an elliptical orbit. For Earth-centered orbits, it’s called perigee.
PRC: People’s Republic of China
RCS: Reaction Control System. A collection of small thrusters used to change a spacecraft’s attitude (its orientation, not its mental state).
SFB: Space Force Base
TNI: Trans-Neptunian Injection. The long engine burn Columbus needed to leave Earth orbit for its flyby of Neptune.
TRL: Technology Readiness Level. Graded at TRL 1 through TRL 9, it’s a method of categorizing whether a new system or device is ready to be used in space.
UNSEC: United Nations Space Exploration Cooperative. A fictional UN agency.
XNAV: X-Ray Pulsar Navigation. A method of using pulsars (pulsating stars) as beacons for navigating in deep space.