Riding Rockets

MS—Mission Specialist. Astronauts trained for mission payload activities, e.g., using the robot arm, doing a spacewalk, conducting experiments, etc.

MSE—Military Space Engineer. Department of Defense personnel flown on some DOD missions.

MSFC—Marshall Spaceflight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

NASA—National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

O₂—Gaseous oxygen breathed by astronauts.

OFT—Orbital Flight Test. The first four space shuttle flights. After these were successfully concluded, the STS was proclaimedoperational .

OMS—Orbital Maneuvering System. Two six-thousand-pound-thrust liquid-fueled engines at the tail of the orbiter. These are used for the final boost into orbit, the brake from orbit, and for large orbit changes.

PAM—Propulsion Assist Module. A solid-fueled rocket motor attached to the bottom of a communication satellite to lift it to a 22,300-mile-high equatorial orbit.

PAO—Public Affairs Officer. An MCC position filled by NASA’s representative to the public.

PEAP—Personal Emergency Air Pack. A portable container of breathing air, which astronauts would use in a ground escape through toxic fumes.

PLBD—Payload Bay Doors. The clamshell doors that cover the space shuttle payload bay.

PLT—Pilot. The pilot astronaut who sits in the right front seat during a shuttle launch and landing. Like the mission commander, the PLT is trained to fly the shuttle.

PPK—Personal Preference Kit. The twenty items of personal significance that NASA permits astronauts to fly in space.

PR—Public Relations. Refers to all things associated with NASA’s interface with the public.

PROP—Propulsion. An MCC controller who monitors the shuttle RCS and OMS propulsion systems.

PS—Payload Specialist. A “part-time” astronaut trained for a specific experiment. PSes are not career NASA astronauts and receive only safety and habitability training on the shuttle.

RCS—Reaction Control System. A system of forty-four small rocket motors on the tail and nose of the orbiter that control the vehicle’s attitude and are also used in small orbit changes, e.g., during the final stages of a rendezvous or separation from a deployed satellite.

RHC—Rotational Hand Controller. The “stick” used to rotate the tip of the robot arm about a point. The CDR’s and PLT’s control sticks, used to maneuver the orbiter, are also referred to as RHCs.

RMS—Remote Manipulator System. The Canadian-built robot arm operated from the rear cockpit of the orbiter. It is used to capture and release satellites, maneuver spacewalking astronauts and cargo, and for vehicle inspections (through its end-mounted TV camera).

RSLS—Redundant Set Launch Sequencer. The software module in the shuttle’s computers that controls the final thirty-one seconds of a shuttle countdown.

RSO—Range Safety Officer. A USAF officer who monitors a shuttle launch and is prepared to blow up the vehicle if it goes out of control and threatens a civilian population center.

RSS—Range Safety System. The explosives aboard the solid rocket boosters and the external gas tank and the supporting electronic equipment that would be used to blow up an out-of-control space shuttle.

RTLS—Return to Launch Site Abort. A launch abort in which the space shuttle returns to land at the Kennedy Space Center.

SAIL—Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory. An electronic lab in which shuttle software can be evaluated. SAIL has a replica of the shuttle cockpit.

SAS—Space Adaptation Syndrome. Space sickness.

SEAL—Sea, Air, Land. An acronym for an elite navy force that is trained for special covert operations against the enemy.

Sim Sup—Simulator Supervisor. The team leader who prepares scripts of malfunctions to train astronauts and MCC controllers. The Sim Sup’s team inputs malfunctions and evaluates the response of astronauts and the MCC to simulated emergencies.

SLF—Shuttle Landing Facility. The 15,000-foot-long runway at Kennedy Space Center used by landing shuttles.

SMS—Shuttle Mission Simulator. The primary simulators at Johnson Space Center for training astronauts to operate the shuttle systems and respond to emergencies.

SRB—Solid Rocket Booster. Twin boosters attached to the sides of the external gas tank. The term “solid” in the title refers to the propellant, which has the consistency of hard rubber.

SSME—Space Shuttle Main Engine. A liquid-fueled engine at the back of the orbiter that burns the liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen carried in the external gas tank. There are three SSMEs at the tail of the orbiter.

STA—Shuttle Training Aircraft. A Gulfstream business jet modified to have the landing characteristics of a shuttle. Pilot astronauts (CDRs and PLTs) train for shuttle landings in the STA.

STS—Space Transportation System. A fancy name for what the public would call the space shuttle. The STS is made up of the winged vehicle (the orbiter), the solid-fueled rocket boosters, and the external gas tank.