Archives: Glossary Terms

TSTI Admin No Comments April 6, 2026

functional testing

Investigations into how well a spacecraft’s subsystems work, individually and integrated, to satisfy mission requirements in a range of operational scenarios. After a subsystemThe bus provides “housekeeping” functions necessary to make the payload work. Includes various subsystems that produce/distribute electrical power, maintain correct temperature, process and store data, communicate with other spacecraft and Earth-bound operators, […]

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TSTI Admin No Comments April 6, 2026

fundamental plane

One of four pieces of information needed to create a coordinate systemA frame of reference that engineers use as a foundation for describing an object’s motion. Coordinate systems have a center point (origin), two or three axis lines that start at the origin, and one of the axis lines designated as the principal direction. More. […]

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TSTI Admin No Comments April 10, 2026

g-load

A launch vehicle’s accelerationHow fast an object’s speed is changing when we apply a force to it. During acceleration, speed increases. During deceleration, speed decreases. More measured in terms of sea-level gravitational accelerationHow fast an object’s speed is changing when we apply a force to it. During acceleration, speed increases. During deceleration, speed decreases. More. […]

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TSTI Admin No Comments April 10, 2026

Gaither Commission

An investigative team assigned by President Eisenhower in 1957 to evaluate the United States’ readiness to withstand an attack by the former Soviet Union. It also evaluated the military readiness to respond to such an attack.

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TSTI Admin No Comments April 10, 2026

galactic center

The pointThe job of the attitude determination and control subsystem (ADCS) is to keep its spacecraft pointed in the right direction. More about which a galaxy revolves. The Milky Way Galaxy revolves around its galactic centerThe point about which a galaxy revolves. The Milky Way Galaxy revolves around its galactic center, which is about 25,000 […]

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TSTI Admin No Comments April 10, 2026

Galactic cosmic rays (GCRs)

Charged particlesParts of an atom with electrical charge. Protons are much larger than electrons, reside in an atom’s nucleus, and carry a positivecharge. Electrons orbit around the nucleus and carry a negative charge. More in space originating outside our solar system from other stars. They are more massive and energetic but less prevalent than particles […]

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TSTI Admin No Comments April 10, 2026

GEO

A geostationary orbitThe oval-shaped path that a spacecraft follows. Orbits come in various shapes and sizes, but each one has a purpose: to let the spacecraft do its job. Higher orbits require more propellant to get a spacecraft there. More (GEO), is a circular orbit with an altitude of approximately 35,862 km (22,284 mi) above […]

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