| Acronym | Meaning |
| PAM | Payload Assist Module |
| APT | Automatic Photoelectric Telescope |
| SPARTAN | Shuttle Pointed Autonomous Research Tool For Astronomy |
| HLV | Heavy Lift Vehicle |
| APM | Attached Pressurized Module (a.k.a. Columbus) |
| MAS | Millimeter-wave Atmospheric Sounder |
| DIRBE | Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment |
| OSSE | Oriented Scintillation Spectrometer Experiment |
| ADEOS | Advanced Earth Observing Satellite |
| MRO | Memory Read-Out |