| Acronym | Meaning |
| SPARTAN | Shuttle Pointed Autonomous Research Tool For Astronomy |
| HCMM | Heat Capacity Mapping Mission |
| APL | Applied Physics Laboratory (at Johns Hopkins) |
| ESO | European Southern Observatory |
| RIACS | Research Institute For Advanced Computer Science |
| ATAL | Alternate Transoceanic Abort Landing |
| PASS | Primary Avionics Software System |
| GMC | Giant Molecular Cloud |
| CRL | Communication Research Lab |
| HIRDLS | High Resolution Dynamics Limb Sounder |