| Acronym | Meaning |
| STDCE | Surface Tension Driven Convection Experment |
| CGRO | Compton Gamma Ray Observatory |
| NSF | National Science Foundation |
| CSTC | Consolidated Satellite Test Center |
| CMBR | Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation |
| ISZ | Iskusstvenniy Sputnik Zemli |
| GOX | Gaseous OXygen |
| PLB | Payload Bay |
| SL-J | SpaceLab Japan |
| GDS | Great Dark Spot |