Acronyms, abbreviations, and terms

Planetary Data System (PDS)

Term Definition
ASCII American Standard Code for Information Interchange
CCSDS Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems
COSPAR Committee on Space Research
DD Data Dictionary
DPH Data Provider's Handbook
DST Dictionary Schema Template
ebXML electronic business eXtensible Markup Language
ESA European Space Agency
HTML Hypertext Markup Language
IAG International Association of Geodesy
IAU International Astronomical Union
IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
IM Information Model
ISO International Standards Organization
ISO/IEC International Standards Organization / International Electrotechnical Commission
ISO/TS International Standards Organization / Technical Standard
JPL Jet Propulsion Laboratory
LDD Local Data Dictionary
LSB Least Significant Bit
MD5 Message-Digest algorithm 5
MSB Most Significant Bit
NAIF Navigation and Ancillary Information Facility
NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NBS National Bureau of Standards
OAIS Open Archival Information System
PDF Portable Document Format
PDS Planetary Data System
PDS3 Planetary Data System, version 3
PDS4 Planetary Data System, version 4
PDS4 Concepts 34 2020-05-19
PSA (ESA) Planetary Science Archive
PSDD Planetary Science Data Dictionary
RM Reference Model
SPICE Spacecraft, Planet, Instrument, C-matrix (pointing), and Events kernels
SR (PDS) Standards Reference
URI Uniform Resource Identifier
URL Uniform Resource Locator
URN Uniform Resource Name
UTF Unicode Transformation Format
W3C World Wide Web Consortium
WXS W3C XML Schema
XML eXtensible Markup Language
XSD XML Schema Document
Term Definition
archive A place in which public records or historical documents are preserved; also the material preserved — often used in plural. Sometimes capitalized when referring to all of PDS holdings — the PDS Archive.
array An N-dimensional data structure in which every element has an identical data type. For example, a structure with 5 rows and 3 columns in which each element is a 2-byte signed integer would be an array.
association An attribute that establishes a unidirectional relationship between two classes. For example, a table has records; ‘has record' is the relationship between one entity (the table) and another (a record).
attribute A property or characteristic that provides a unit of information. For example, ‘color' and ‘length' are possible attributes.
basic product The simplest product in PDS4; one or more data objects (and their description objects), which constitute (typically) a single observation, document, etc. The only PDS4 products that are not basic products are Product_Collection and Product_Bundle. Every basic product must be a primary member of one (and only one) collection. Basic products may be secondary members of any number of collections.
bundle A list of collections. Product_Bundle, the bundle's manifestation, is itself a product (because it is simply a list embedded within a label); but it is not a basic product. For example, a bundle could list a collection of raw data obtained by an instrument during its mission lifetime, a collection of the calibration products associated with the instrument, and a collection of all documentation relevant to the first two collections.
cardinality The number of values allowed for an attribute or association in a single class. Cardinality in general is stated as a range with a minimum and maximum. For example, an optional attribute that may be multi-valued will have a cardinality of "0..*". A cardinality where the minimum and maximum are the same is often shown as the single value; for example, an attribute required to have exactly one value will have a cardinality of "1". When a value is required, the minimum cardinality is at least 1.
class The set of attributes (including a name) which defines a family. A class is generic — a template from which individual members of the family may be constructed. If the class 'rope' (its name) is defined by attributes ‘color' and ‘length', we can construct a family of ropes — e.g., red and 3 m long, red and 4 m long, blue and 2 m long, ...
class hierarchy An ordering of classes which shows parent-child relationships.
collection A list of basic products, all of which are closely related in some way. The collection's manifestation, Product_Collection, is itself a product (because it is simply a list, with its label); but it is not a basic product.
component A digital object in a file of observational data that is identified as part of a composite structure.
composite structure a digital data object in which two or more components have structural relationships — for example, a data 'cube' and its back and/or side planes. The Composite_Structure class may be used to specify the relationships rigorously.
conceptual object An object which is intangible (and, because it is intangible, does not fit into a digital archive). Examples of 'conceptual objects' include the Cassini mission and NASA's strategic plan for solar system exploration. Note that a PDF describing the Cassini mission is a digital object, not a conceptual object (nor a component of a conceptual object).
consulting node A PDS discipline node assigned as the contact for a mission, instrument, or project.
container The physical equivalent of a package (see below); the product manifest and all related files wrapped together for transfer — for example, in a ZIP, GZIP, or TAR file.
data dictionary A repository for definitions of classes and attributes.
data object A physical, conceptual, or digital object.
data preparer Same as data provider.
data provider A person or organization that assembles archival data for delivery to PDS.
data structure A particular way of storing data in a computer that facilitates efficient use.
description object Something that describes an object. As appropriate, it will have structural and descriptive components. Technically speaking, a 'description object' in PDS4 is a 'digital object' — a string of bits; but we assume that we can read it and, on that basis, give it a special name.
digital object An object which is real data — for example, a binary image of a redwood tree or an ASCII table of atmospheric composition versus altitude.
discipline area That part of a label which is specified by a discipline.
encoded byte stream A byte stream that may only be interpreted after it has been ‘decoded' according to some well-known standard.
entity Something that has a distinct, separate existence.
extension (1) See subclass. (2) The character string following the last period in a file name.
identifier A unique character string by which a product, object, or other entity may be identified and located. Identifiers can be global, in which case they are unique across all of PDS (and its federation partners). A local identifier must be unique within a label.
information model A representation of concepts, relationships, constraints, rules, and operations to specify data semantics for a chosen domain of discourse. Specifically, the PDS Information Model (IM) is the representation that specifies PDS4.
information object A data object paired with its description.
inventory An itemized list of current assets or holdings.
label The aggregation of one or more description objects such that the aggregation describes a single PDS product. In the PDS4 implementation, labels are constructed using XML, which imposes a small amount of overhead.
label template A text file which serves as a pattern for constructing labels.
lead node One of several consulting nodes designated as the PDS coordinator and primary contact with a mission.
local (1) Within a single label. (2) Within an archiving entity — e.g., local data dictionary.
local data dictionary (LDD) A data dictionary for classes and attributes which are not defined across the entire PDS. Examples include data dictionaries for discipline nodes, missions, and individual archiving projects.
logical identifier (LID) An identifier which identifies the set of all versions of an object.
manifest A list of contents.
meta-attribute An attribute of an attribute — that is, a ‘dictionary' attribute, which is used to define one or more attributes in the PDS4 Information Model. For example, ‘conceptual_domain' and ‘maximum_value' are used in defining some attributes.
metadata Data about data — for example, a ‘description object' contains information (metadata) about an ‘object.'
mission A task with which a group of people have been charged, usually by a government agency and including priority (if not exclusive) use of one or more spacecraft (see attribute type within class Investigation_Area).
mission area That part of a label which is specified by a mission.
model A representation or description designed to show an entity and its composition.
namespace A context for defining classes and attributes. Two items with the same name but from different namespaces generally have different definitions. For example, "title" has a very different meaning in a movie namespace compared with its meaning in an automobile namespace.
object The realization of a single member of a family defined by a class. If the class ‘rope' has attributes ‘color' and ‘length', we can construct a ‘rope' family with three members — red and 3 m long, red and 4 m long, and blue and 2 m long. Each member is an object.
observational data Raw measurements from one or more instruments, or the results from processing such raw measurements.
observing campaign An observational assignment with which a group of people have been charged (sometimes voluntarily) which extends over some period of time and which can be accomplished without significant construction of new equipment (see attribute type within class Investigation_Area).
package A product manifest and all related files logically grouped together for transfer.
parsable byte stream A byte stream which can be parsed with standard rules — e.g., comma separated entries or standard punctuation; ‘decoding software' is not needed.
physical object An object which is physical or tangible (and, therefore, does not itself fit into a digital archive). Examples of ‘physical objects' include the planet Saturn and the Venus Express magnetometer. Note that an ASCII file describing Saturn is a digital object, not a physical object (nor a component of a physical object).
primary component The central, or most important, among several components; the component which has relationships (either directly or indirectly) to all other components in a composite structure.
primary member A basic product is a primary member of the collection within which it first enters PDS4. Every basic product must be a primary member of one (and only one) collection. A product's member status (primary or secondary) is based on its first association with the collection. Although the product may be omitted from a later version of the collection, it retains its primary or secondary member status through all subsequent versions of the collection based on its initial association. In a similar way, collections are categorized as having either primary or secondary ‘member status' in their bundles.
product One or more tagged objects (digital, non-digital, or both) grouped together and having a single PDS-unique identifier. In the PDS4 implementation, the descriptions are combined into a single XML label. Although it may be possible to locate individual objects within PDS (and to find specific bit strings within digital objects), PDS4 defines ‘products' to be the smallest granular unit of addressable data within its complete holdings.
registry A data base that provides services for sharing content and metadata.
registration authority An organization responsible for maintaining a registry — in this case, the PDS4 Information Model and its components. The registration authority for the Planetary Data System is 'PDS'.
repository A place, room, or container where something is deposited or stored (often for safety or preservation).
resource The target (referent) of any Uniform Resource Identifier; the thing to which a URI points.
restored data Data which have been recovered from storage and successfully prepared for archive in PDS.
restriction A limit placed on the range of a variable; specifically, the narrowing of possible choices for a class or attribute. For example, attribute axes may have values between 1 and 16 in the definition of Array, but it is restricted to the value '2' in Array_2D.
schema A structural definition given in a formal language which serves as a blueprint for construction.
science bundle Observational data from a science investigation, documentation, and other supplementary data organized into a bundle structure for delivery to PDS.
secondary member A basic product may be a secondary member of any number of collections. A collection which lists references to basic products already registered in PDS would identify those products as its secondary members. For example, if all Voyager images were in one primary collection, an analyst could define a new (subset) collection containing images which had Saturn's rings within the field of view; each of those image products would be a secondary member of the new collection. A product's member status (primary or secondary) is based on its first association with the collection. Although the product may be omitted from a later version of the collection, it retains its primary or secondary member status through all subsequent versions of the collection based on its initial association. In a similar way, collections are categorized as having either primary or secondary 'member status' in their bundles.
steward A person or organization that manages a set of registered attributes and classes, typically as an agent for another or others. A registration authority must have at least one steward; it may have many. Stewards for PDS4 include PDS, the discipline nodes, and any mission wishing to conform to the PDS4 Information Model.
subclass In PDS4 a subclass is a class extension. Subclasses are more specialized versions of a class. They inherit attributes and behaviors from their parent classes, and they can have attributes of their own. For example, Array_2D is a PDS4 subclass of Array_Base.
supplementary data Additional archival material which is useful in understanding observational data. Examples include browse products, descriptions of instruments and other facilities important to data acquisition, information about observing geometry, calibrations, and observing and command logs.
table A two-dimensional data structure composed of records, which themselves are heterogeneous but which repeat throughout the table. For example, a table could have 20 ASCII records, each of which has a 10-character date field, a comma, an 8-character time field, a comma, a 3-digit integer temperature field, and a ‘carriagereturn line-feed' record delimiter.
tag Fundamental syntax in XML; a tag is a character string delimited by "<" and ">". For example "<date>" is a tag.
tagged digital object A digital object paired with its companion description object. [Note: In the OAIS RM this pair is known as an ‘information object'].
tagged non-digital object A physical object or a conceptual object paired with its companion description object. [Note: In the OAIS RM this pair is known as an ‘information object'].
version identifier (VID) An identifier which identifies the version of something else.
versioned identifier (LIDVID) The concatenation of a logical identifier (LID) with a version identifier (VID).
XML attribute An attribute-value pair that is inserted into an XML element to provide additional information, such as units; the value is always enclosed in double quotes. For example <date unit="year">2009</date>
XML document A file that contains syntactically correct XML-formatted text.
XML editor An editor, which has special features allowing XML tag completion, XML validation, etc.
XML element An XML structure that begins with <tag>, contains ‘content', and ends with </tag>. For example, "<date>200</date>" is an XML element establishing the date as 2009. The allowed ‘content' is specified in the PDS4 Information Model, which is propagated to the PDS4 Data Dictionary.
XML label A label written using XML.
XML root tag The first (and highest-level) XML tag in an XML document.
XML schema The definition of an XML document, specifying required and optional XML elements, their order, and parent-child relationships.
XML tag Same as tag.
XML template A text file which serves as a pattern for constructing XML documents.

Mission specific acronyms, abbreviations and terms

Entries are taken from mission-produced documents.

mission specific

MSl
Term Definition
ACE Flight Mission Controller
ACM Activity Constraint Manager
ActID Activity ID
AD Activity Dictionary
ADR Adaptive Data Rate
AEGIS Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science (rover software for intelligent targeting & data acquisition)
AFT Allowable Flight Temperatures
AM Before noon (a.m. time)
APAM Activity Plan Approval Meeting
APGEN Activity Plan Generator
APID Applications Process Identification
APSS Activity Planning and Sequencing Subsystem
APXS Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer
ART Anomaly Response Team
ATLO Assembly, Test, and Launch Operations
BASIE Bridging Activity planning and Sequence Integration Engineer
BATR Bagnold Access Traverse
BCB Battery Controller Board
BK Buckskin (drill sample)
BP Blueprint
BS Big Sky (drill sample)
C&DH Command and Data Handling
CAM Command Approval Meeting
CAP Characterization Activity Phase
CB Cumberland (drill sample)
CBM Communication Behavior Manager
CC Contamination Control
CCB Change Control Board
CCBU ChemCam Body Unit
CCCT ChemCam Calibration Targets
CCD Charge-Coupled Device
CCL Commerce Control List (for EAR)
CCMU ChemCam Mast Unit
CDC Condensed Drilling Campaign
CDPID Camera-assigned Data Product ID
CDS Central Data Store
CEDL Cruise & EDL
CETN Counter of Epithermal Neutrons
CFO Candidate for Observation
CH Confidence Hills (drill sample)
ChemCam Chemistry and Camera
CheMin Chemistry and Mineralogy
CHIMRA Collection and Handling for Interior Martian Rock Analysis
CIA Chemical Index of Alteration
CM Configuration Management
CMSA Cruise Mission Support Area
CogE Cognizant Engineer
COM Communication Window
COTS Commercial Off-The-Shelf
CRC Cyclic Redundancy Check, a data error detection technique
CRISM Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (on MRO)
CS Contact Science
CSPL Chemical Separation and Processing Laboratory (for SAM)
CSV Comma Separated Value
CSW Contact Switch
CTN Counter of Thermal Neutrons
CTS Coax Transfer Switch
CTX Context Camera (on MRO)
DAN Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons
DAWG Data Archive Working Group
DB Database
DBE Double Bit Error
DD Dust Devil
DDI Defined Data Item
DE Detectors/Electronics (on the DAN instrument)
DEA Digital Electronics Assembly (for MMM cameras)
DEM Digital Elevation Map
DFE Direct from Earth
DL Downlink
DM Data Management
DMT Data Management Tool
DMX Data Management
DOD Depth of Discharge
DOF Degree of Freedom
DOM Distributed Object Manager
DOSA Deactivate Other Sequences (All of them)
DOY Day of Year
DP Data Product
DPSR Data Product Summary Report
DRT Dust Removal Tool
DSN Deep Space Network
DTE Direct to Earth
DV Data Volume
DVT Data Validity Time (DVT approximately correlates to the SCLK time that the data product was created by the Rover Compute Element (RCE)
EAR Export Administration Regulations
EBT Electrical Baseline Test (for SAM)
ECAM Engineering Cameras (Navcams & Hazcams)
ECCN Export Control Classification Number (for EAR)
ECR Engineering Change Request
ECS Evolved Cached Sample (the new way of caching in CHIMRA)
EDL Entry, Descent, and Landing
EDR Experiment Data Record
EGA Evolved Gas Analysis
EHA Engineering Housekeeping and Accountability
EKO Engineering Keepout
ELT Electra Lite UHF radio
EM Extended Mission
ENV Atmosphere and Environment Science Theme Group
EO Engineering Operations
EPO Education and Public Outreach
ERT Earth Receive Time
E/S Engineering/Science
ET Earth Time
E-Tray Engineering Observation Tray
ETT Earth Transmit Time
EUL Engineering Uplink Lead
EVR Event Verification Record
FEI File Exchange Interface
FHAZ Front Hazcam
FINCON FINal CONditions (for SEQGEN)
FL Focal Length
FMFT Fast Motion Field Test (held in 2011)
FMWI Full MAHLI Wheel Imaging
FOD Foreign Object Debris
FOV Field of View
FP Fault Protection
FR Flight Rule
FSTB Flight Software Testbed
FSW Flight Software
FSWX Flight Software Transition (upgrade to a new version)
FTA First Time Activity
GAZ CAL Calibration of G (G = the winding conductance of a motor)
GC Gas Chromatograph
GC Garden City
GCMS Gas Chromatograph/Mass Spectrometer
GCM Global Circulation Model (atmosphere)
GCR Galactic Cosmic Ray
GDS Ground Data System
GDSA Ground Data System Analyst
GEO Geology Science Theme Group
GH Greenhorn (drill sample)
GIL Ground in the Loop (allows time for people on Earth to study downlink data from Mars)
GOP Group of Pictures (JPEG video frames)
GST Generic Sol Time (same as LMST)
GTS Ground Temperature Sensor (on REMS)
Hazcam Hazard avoidance camera
HEOMD Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate
HePPI Helpful Product Priority Identifier (for MMM products)
HGA High Gain Antenna
HGAG High Gain Antenna Gimbal
HiRISE High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (on MRO)
HO Handover
HRIM High Resolution Interval Mode (for the REMS Humidity Sensor)
HRS Heat Rejection System
HS Humidity Sensor
HW Hardware
IC Inlet Cover (inlets for SAM and CheMin)
IE Instrument Engineer
IML Instrument Management Layer (software for communication between RCE and the science instruments)
IMU Inertial Measurement Unit
INCON INitial CONditions (for SEQGEN)
IPA Integrated Pump Assembly
IPE Integrated Planning and Execution
ISA Incident, Surprise, Anomaly (report)
ISR Internal Series Resistance (of a battery)
ITAR International Traffic in Arms Regulations
IVP Inertial Vector Pointing
JK John Klein (drill sample)
KO Kickoff
KOP Keeper of the Plan
LAP Look Ahead Plan
LAPM Look Ahead Plan Meeting
LCA Launch, Cruise, and Approach
LCC Load Control Card
LDAP Lightweight Directory Access Protocol
LED Light Emitting Diode
LGA Low Gain Antenna
LED Light Emitting Diode
LIBS Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (in ChemCam)
LL Local Level (coordinate frame)
LMST Local Mean Solar Time
LOCO LOw COmplexity LOssless COmpression
LOS Line of Sight
LS Listing (of DMX files)
LST Local Solar Time
LTP Long Term Planner
LTST Local True Solar Time
MAHLI Mars Hand Lens Imager
MARDI Mars Descent Imager
MaROS Mars Relay Operations Service
Mastcam Mast Camera
MAVEN Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN
MDM MMM Data Management Lead
MEDLI Mars EDL Instrument
MER Mars Exploration Rover (Spirit & Opportunity rovers)
MEX Mars Express
MGS Mars Global Surveyor
MIF Mass-Independent Fractionation (for example: MIF-S for sulfur isotopes)
MIN Inorganic Geochemistry and Mineralogy Science Theme Group
MiniKOP KOP for a Science Theme Group
MJ Mojave 2 (drill sample)
MM Mission Manager
MMM Mastcam, MAHLI, and MARDI instruments
MMPAT Multi-Mission Power Analysis Tool
MMRTG MultiMission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator
MMS Mojave Mars Simulant
MOB Mobility
MPCS Mission data Processing and Control Subsystem
MPSEditor Mission Planning and Sequencing Editor
MRO Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
MRS-1 Mars Regolith Simulant-1
MS Mission System
M/S Master/Submaster
MSA Mission Support Area
MSAR Mount Sharp Ascent Route
MSL Mars Science Laboratory
MSLICE Mars Science Laboratory InterfaCE (software)
M/SM Master/Submaster Walkthrough
MSoB Mount Sharp or Bust (working group)
MSSS Malin Space Science Systems
MSTB Mission System Testbed
MTIF MSL Telecom Interface
MTL MMM Tactical Lead
MySQL My Structured Query Language
NAIF Navigation and Ancillary Information Facility
NAND N(OT) + AND (a type of nonvolatile storage)
NAV Navigation
Navcam Navigation camera
nextersol tomorrow's Mars day (or "solorrow")
NG noble gas
NOPE Network Operations Planning Engineer
NPM Nonvolatile Parameter Management
NSYT InSight
NVM Nonvolatile Memory
NVMCAM Nonvolatile Memory Camera Interface
OCM Organic Check Material
ODS Operational Data Store
ODY Mars Odyssey
OIA Operational Interface Agreement
OPGS Operational Product Generation Subsystem
ORT Operational Readiness Test
O-Tray Observation Tray
OWLT One Way Light Time
PADS Powder Acquisition Drill System
PAM Power & Analog Module
PDC Payload Downlink Coordinator
PDI Post-Drive Imaging
PDL Payload Downlink Lead
PDS Planetary Data System
PEF Predicted Events File
PEL Payload Element Lead
PEL Power Equipment List
PFR Problem Failure Report
PI Principal Investigator
PIRCC Pahrump Imaging Reconnaissance and ChemCam Campaign
PLACES Position Localization and Attitude Correction Estimate Storage
PLS Partial Least Squares
PM Afternoon (p.m. time)
PNG Pulsing Neutron Generator (on DAN)
PP Planetary Protection
PRML Preview Rover Markup Language
PRT Platinum Resistance Thermometer
PSD Planetary Science Division
PSE Project System Engineer
PSG Project Science Group
PRI Priority
PUDL Payload Uplink and Downlink Lead
PUL Payload Uplink Lead
QL QuickLook data product
QMDT Qualification Model Dirty Testing (for SA/SPaH)
QMS Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer
RA Robotic Arm
RAD Radiation Assessment Detector
RAD750 BAE Systems' radiation-hardened single board version of the IBM PowerPC 750 computer
RAMP Rover Avionics Mounting Plate
RAMPAGE Remote Access Multi-mission Processing and Ground Environment
RBAU Rover Battery Assembly Unit
RBF Rover Body Fixed coordinate frame
RCE Rover Compute Element (rover computer)
RCT Record Creation Time
RDR Reduced Data Record
REPRI Reprioritize
REMS Rover Environmental Monitoring Station
REU Remote Engineering Unit
REXMIT Retransmit
RF Radio Frequency
RFA Request For Action
RHAZ Rear Hazcam
RIMU Rover IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit)
RIPA Rover Integrated Pump Assembly
RMC Rover Motion Counter
RMI Remote Microscopic Imager (in ChemCam)
RMCA Rover Motor Controller Assembly
RMSEP Root Mean Squared Error of Prediction
RN Rocknest (scoop sample)
RNAV Rover Navigation (coordinate frame)
ROP Rate of Penetration
RoSE Robotic Sequence Editor
RP Rover Planner
RPA Rover Power Assembly
RPAM Rover Power and Analog Module
RPFA Rover Pyro Fire Assembly
RSM Remote Sensing Mast
RSVP Rover Sequencing and Visualization Program
RT Real-time
R-T Rapid-Traverse
RTG Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator
RTO Real Time Operations
RTR Rapid Transit Route (to Mount Sharp)
RTS Resource Tracking System
SAM Sample Analysis at Mars
SAPE Science Activity Planning Exercise (held in 2008)
SAPP Surface Attitude, Positioning, and Pointing
SA-SPaH Sample Acquisition/Sample Processing, and Handling (arm, drill, scoop, sieves, portioners)
SATT Sample Analysis Thread Test
SB Science Block (in the activity plan)
SBE Single Bit Error
S/C Spacecraft
SCET Spacecraft Event Time (UTC time an event happens aboard the spacecraft)
SCLK Spacecraft Clock
SCMF Space Command Message File
SD Science Discussion (meeting)
SDRAM Synchronous Dynamic Random-Access Memory
SDST Small Deep Space Transponder
SEP Solar Energetic Particle
SEP Sun-Earth-Probe (important angle used for conjunction planning)
SEQ Sequence or Sequencing
SeqDB Sequence database
SEQGEN SEQuence validation and command product GENeration
SFP System Fault Protection
SIE Sequence Integration Engineer
SIRLi Strategic Image Request List
SIS Software Interface Specification
SMFT Slow Motion Field Test (held in 2007)
SMM Strategic Mission Manager
SMMWG Surface Materials & Mobility Working Group
SMSA Surface Mission Support Area
SNC Shergottites, Nakhlites, and Chassignites (martian meteorites)
SNTT Surface Nominal Thread Test
SO Science Operations
SOAS Science Operations & Analysis Subsystem
SOC State of Charge
SOE Sequence of Events
SOH State of Health
soliday holiday from planning the rover's next sol, due to the alignment of Mars and Earth time
solorrow tomorrow's Mars day (or "nextersol")
SOWG Science Operations Working Group
SP Science Planner
SPAM Sample Processing Acquisition Manager
SPaSIE Science Planner + Sequence Integration Engineer (a combined role)
SPICE Spacecraft, Planet, Instrument, Pointing C-Matrix, and Event Kernels
SPL Strategic Planning Lead
SPS Surface Properties Scientist
SPWI Single Position Wheel Imaging
SRAP Slip Risk Assessment Process
SRW Sequence Report Walkthrough
SSF Spacecraft Sequence File
SSP Strategic Science Planner
SSPA Solid State Power Amplifier
SSS Surface Sampling System
SSS AL Surface Sampling System Activity Lead
ST Schedule Table (for the REMS instrument)
STAG Supra-Tactical Approval Gate
STG Science Theme Group
STL Science Theme Group Lead
STR Safest Transit Route
STR Strategic Transit Route
STT System Thermal Test
SUL Strategic Uplink Lead
SUR Science Uplink Representative
SUROM Startup Read-Only Memory (ROM)
SuTL Supra Tactical Lead
SYS System
TAA Technical Assistance Agreement (ITAR license for export compliance)
TACT Tactical Activity Coordination Tagup
TAM Target Acquisition Meeting
TAP Tactical Activity Plan
TB Testbed
TC Team Chief
TCS Thermal Control System
TDL Tactical Downlink Lead
TEC Thermo Electric Cooler
TEL Telecommunications
TFA Two-Factor Authentication
TLS Tunable Laser Spectrometer
TOAST Touch, Overnight, Stow Arm, and Traverse
TOD Time of Day
tosol martian "today"
TP Telegraph Peak (drill sample)
TT Thread Test
TUL Tactical Uplink Lead
TWTA Traveling Wave Tube Amplifier
UHF Ultra-High Frequency
UL Uplink
ULSGEN Uplink Summary Generation
UMT Upload Management Table
USML U.S. Munitions List (for ITAR)
UVS UV Spectrometer
V&V (VnV) Verification and Validation
VDP Virtual Data Product
VI Verification Item
VIG Volatiles and Isotope Geochemistry Science Theme Group
VIPER Visual Predicted Events File (PEF) Reader
VNV Verification and Validation
V&V Verification and Validation
VO Visual Odometry
VOCA Voice Operational Communications Assembly
VOM Visual Odometry Monitoring (VO run continuously to monitor for rover slip)
VSTB Vehicle System Testbed
VTT Visual Target Tracking
WEB Warm Electronics Box
WJ Windjana (drill sample)
WP Waypoint
WRP Wide Range Pump (in SAM)
WS Wind Sensor
WSTS Workstation Test Set
WTS Waveguide Transfer Switch
XRD X-ray Diffraction
yestersol martian "yesterday"
YKB Yellowknife Bay