Terminology, Definitions, and Acronyms

Photos and Illustrations Credit: NASA, unless noted otherwise.

The Journey to Mars, Part 3

03 December 2015


In the preceding post I promised a list of NASA Terminology, Definitions, and Acronyms;  The list is shown below.  This list is growing as I learn more about NASA, and I will update the list periodically as time and energy permit.

Journey to Mars ( JTM )

Terminology, Definitions, and Acronyms

Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM): This mission (or missions) will place an asteroid into cislunar space as well as return samples to the ISS and/or Earth for further study.

Asteroid Redirect Robotic Vehicle (ARRV):  a spacecraft would rendezvous with a large near-Earth asteroid and use robotic arms with anchoring grippers to retrieve a boulder from the asteroid.

 Cislunar Space:  The space between the earth and the moon, plus other near earth space a bit beyond the moon, but nowhere near Mars.  This area is also called the Proving Ground.

CST-100 Starliner:   A Boeing spacecraft  for transporting astronauts to low earth orbit (LEO).

Deep Space Climate ObserVatory at LagRange Point 1 (DSCOVR):  "The primary objective of DSCOVR, a partnership between NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Air Force, is to maintain the nation’s real-time solar wind monitoring capabilities, which are critical to the accuracy and lead time of space weather alerts and forecasts from NOAA."  ( Quote from NASA website)

Deep Space Network (DSN):  A ground based network on Earth with 34 - meter diameter dish antennas spaced about 120 degrees apart around the circumference of the Earth used for radio communication and data collection from spacecraft anywhere in deep space, 24-7.  These "radio stations" are located in Canberra Australia, Madrid, Spain, and Goldstone, California.



European Space Agency (ESA): The European version of NASA.

Exploration Upper Stage (EUS): A rocket stage that sits atop the Core (main) stage of the SLS rocket, Block 1B and Block 2 assemblies.  See SLS, farther down this list for info about the 4 versions of the Space Launch System (SLS) rockets.

An  illustration of the various parts of Core section of a Block 1 SLS Rocket is shown below:


As you can see in the illustration above, most of the rocket structure is devoted to fuel and rocket engines.  Also, take a look at that little pointy thing that is mounted on top of the Orion Crew module - that is the rocket that powers the Launch Abort System, and that "little pointy thing" is larger and more powerful than the rocket that took John Glenn into orbit 20 February 1962.  Nasa has come a long way since those early days of space flight.

The Core stage of the SLS rocket is 212 feet tall ( 64.6 meters) and 27.6 feet diameter (8.4 meters) includes (bottom to top):

[] The four RS-25 main engines.
[] Liquid Hydrogen fuel tank.
[] Intertank Connector.
[] Liquid Oxygen fuel tank
[] Forward Skirt

To illustrate and emphasize the size of the Core section, a photo of a technician inspecting welds on the top of the Hydrogen fuel tank is shown below:



The liquid Oxygen tank will ride above the hydrogen tank, and both fit snugly inside the Core Section.

Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap):  A program in progress to use COTS to carry supplies to the ISS with vehicles supplied by Boeing, Space X, etc.

Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS):  A  NASA sponsored program to encourage companies to develop systems to provide supply services to cislunar space.  Companies such as Boeing and Orbital ATK have already begun to deliver cargo to the ISS.

Commercial Resupply Services (CRS):  Part of COTS

Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL): Stages of taking things from orbit and placing them on the surface of a planet, moon, asteroid, or comet.

Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA):  Activity in space outside of a spacecraft or ISS.

Halo Orbit:  An orbit around a Lagrange Point.  The illustration below shows a satellite in a halo orbit around L1.  Halo orbits are different from "normal" orbits because the orbiting object is orbiting a point in space that is the confluence of two gravitational forces - there is literally nothing there except the coming together of gravity forces.



 Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO): The Indian version of NASA.

International Space Station (ISS): An American  National Laboratory where LEO research and training is done.  As of December 2015 astronauts from 17 countries have lived and worked on the ISS for various periods of times during the past 15 years.  Currently (December 2015) two astronauts (one Russian and one American)  are about half way through a 1-year assignment aboard the ISS.  The "normal" assignment for each of the 6-person crew is six months, or less.



The flags were added to the photo to show countries who participate in ISS missions.

Interior Exploration Using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy, and Heat Transport (InSight):  A robotic MARS lander scheduled for launch in 2016 that will investigate the interior (geophysical) processes that formed Mars’s core, mantle, and crust, comparing these processes to the Earth.  In addition, InSight will also investigate seismic and meteorite impact rates  on Mars.

In Situ Resource Utilization : (ISRU): - - a type of device that will produce essential resources, such as Oxygen on the ISS and eventually on Mars.  Also, see MOXIE, below.

Lagrange Point:    Points in an orbital configuration of two large bodies where a small object affected only by gravity, such as an artificial satellite, can maintain a stable position relative to the two large bodies.  The illustration below shows Lagrange Points 1 through 5 for the Earth-Sun system (not to scale).  The L1 point is 1.5 miles from Earth.  The yellow lines represent gravitational forces, which are actually "warps" in space that create "gravity wells", but that’s a story for another day.



Low Earth Orbit (LEO): An orbit around Earth with an altitude between 160 kilometers (99 mi) (orbital period of about 88 minutes), and 2,000 kilometers (1,200 mi) (with an orbital period of about 127 minutes).

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO):  A Moon orbiter currently in operation at Earth’s Moon.

Mars Transit Habitat (MTH):  Relatively large habitats that provide living quarters for astronauts in transit trough deep space - such as an asteroid or Voyage to Mars.

MOXIE: A small experimental ISRU device that  extracts Oxygen from carbon dioxide (CO2 in a process  called "solid oxide electrolysis".  MOXIE will be tested on the ISS and will be a part of the 2020 rover.  Full size versions (about 10X the size of MOXIE) will be sent to Mars ahead of manned flights to produce and store oxygen to be used by the astronauts when they arrive, and during their stay on the surface of Mars.



National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA): The U.S. government agency that oversees and manages research and development projects in aeronautics and space travel.

Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP): A type of rocket engine that uses solar power from solar panels to accelerate ionized propellant (plasma) for thrust.  These engines do not produce as much thrust as chemical engines, but they are much more efficient, allowing much more mass to be transported with far less fuel.   This type of engine was used for NASA’s Dawn Mission which sent an orbiting robot to  asteroids Vesta and Seres (This was the first ever mission that visited and orbited two different asteroids).

The illustration below, depicts an unmanned cargo carrying SEP vehicle on its way to Mars.



Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO):  A cooperative effort between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) to study the Sun.  SOHO has also discovered over 3,000 Comets during it’s 20 years in space.

Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41):  Launch Pad facility used by commercial transportation to ISS.

Space Launch System (SLS):  Arguably, the most interesting and exciting item for the Journey to Mars is the SLS rocket, which will be the largest and most powerful rocket ever built.

NASA defines the SLS as "Orion’s ride to deep space".   The four versions of the SLS rocket are shown in the illustration below:



SLS is four different versions of the rocket that will do the heavy lifting that will eventually allow 4 astronauts to be landed on Mars. The fourth and final version of SLS will be capable of launching about 150 metric tons into orbit.  Nasa has it’s own way of naming things, so these four versions of the SLS are called Block 1, Block 1B Crew, Block 1B Cargo, and Block 2 Cargo.  The boosters on the Block 2 cargo rocket will be more powerful than the boosters on the other three rockets in order launch more massive payloads.

[] SLS Block 1 will support the first exploration mission into circumlunar space.  This unmanned test flight, planned for 2018, will be the first integrated test of SLS and the Orion spacecraft.  This mission is called Exploration Mission 1 ( EM-1 )

[] SLS Block 1B Crew will add an expanded upper stage.  Exploration Mission 2  (EM-2) will be manned and will test and validate key operational capabilities that are required to become Earth Independent.

[] SLS Bock 1B Cargo is for launching heavy loads of cargo into LEO and cislunar space.

[] SLS Block 2 will add advanced boosters (the largest and most powerful solid fuel rockets ever built) to replace the original boosters used versions 1 and 1B.

Shown below is a photo of SLS Block 1 on its way to the launch pad for initial integration testing.  This test will NOT actually launch the rocket.  Reading the documentation I have seen so far I get the impression that this "integration test" is intended to make sure everything fits together as it should, and to verify that all the wiring is hooked up correctly.




And, a closer view of the Orion spacecraft looking down from the top . . .



United Launch Alliance (ULA):  One of NASA’s commercial suppliers that provides cargo shipments to the ISS using three families of launch vehicles: Atlas V, Delta II, and Delta IV rockets.


And, that’s all I have ready for prime time right now.

Not sure what will be next, but I have a couple of things in the works.

Take care, and visit the NASA website often - - they have TONS of wonderful stuff there, including live TV from the ISS.