| Acronym | Meaning |
| DARPA | Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency |
| ORFEUS | Orbiting And Retrievable Far And Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrometer |
| NRL | Naval Research Laboratory |
| HAO | High Altitude Observatory |
| NIR | Near InfraRed |
| WFPC | Wide Field/Planetary Camera |
| IOBM | In Ocean By Mistake |
| MCC | Mission Control Center |
| TAL | Transatlantic Abort Landing |
| SMM | Solar Maximum Mission |