Astro-Speak

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be an astronaut on the ISS?

Just imagine sitting atop that massive rocket and the feeling of over 7.6 million pounds of thrust pushing you space-ward. Imagine the sensations of floating around all day and looking at the awesome views of Earth from the cupola or taking your first space walk.

Unfortunately, there is a lot more to being an astronaut, including learning a new language. The ISS is a multi-nation space habitat and being able to speak a bit of French, or Russian or English (to name a few) would be very helpful. Linguistic skills will definitely come in handy but there is a different language you will need to be fully functional in, I refer to it as astro-speak. It is the vocabulary of space sciences and technologies.

Do you know what ScanSar means? How about K band, or Nircam?

These are just a few of the terms and acronyms you will need to know if you wish to be fluent in astro-speak. The link below is to the Canadian Space Agency website, "The Astronautics Vocabulary", which is a glossary of terms that pertain to the science and technology of spaceflight.

The link is  -https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/resources/vocabulary/default.asp

There are more than 30 national space agencies globally, check them out...

https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/space-agencies.html