SCA
Initialism of Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.
Aviation maintenance
479 entries in this trade.
Schwalbe
The World War II Messerschmitt Me-262 jet fighter.
scissors
A type of defensive maneuver in dogfighting, involving repeatedly turning one's aircraft towards that of the attacker in order to force them to overshoot.
scramjet
A jet engine capable of propelling an aircraft at hypersonic speeds, in which combustion of the fuel and air mixture occurs at supersonic speeds.
SE
Initialism of sustainer engine.
Sears-Haack body
The shape with the lowest theoretical wave drag in supersonic flow, for a given body length and a given volume.
SECO
Acronym of sustainer engine cutoff.
section
A cross-section perpendicular the longitudinal axis of an aircraft in flight.
sector
In the schedule for an aircraft and its crew, the period starting with preparation of the plane before loading at one airport and ending with deplaning at the next.
SES
Initialism of sustainer engine start.
shipset
The full complement of parts of a system required to equip an individual aerospace vehicle.
SIRTF
Initialism of Space Infrared Telescope Facility.
ski
One of a pair of long flat runners under some flying machines, used for landing.
skid
A banked sideslip where the aircraft's nose is yawed towards the low wing, often due to excessive rudder input.
skyhook
A proposed momentum-exchange tether for launching payloads into low Earth orbit by hooking them to the end of a cable that reaches down from an orbiting station into the upper atmosphere.
slat
A control surface that extends forwards and downwards from the leading edge of a wing, leaving a gap between it and the leading edge, in order to modify the airflow around the wing so as to allow flight at a higher angle of attack without stalling, lowering the aircraft's stall speed.
slingshot effect
The use of the relative movement and gravity of a planet or other celestial body to alter the path and speed of a spacecraft.
SLS
Initialism of Space Launch System.
SLV
Abbreviation of space launch vehicle.
SMOS
Initialism of Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity, a satellite from the Living Planet Programme.
SMPG
Initialism of Small Mission Program Group, a division for missions with a small budget at NASA.
snatch
Rapid, uncommanded jerking or oscillation of the ailerons of some aircraft at high Mach numbers, resulting from shock wave formation at transonic speeds.
SOB
Initialism of souls on board.
SOFIA
Acronym of Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, a telescope atop a Boeing 747SP aircraft with an effective diameter of 2.5 meters at altitudes up to 13.7 kilometers.
soft landing
A landing that does not result in the destruction of the payload or the vehicle.
SOHO
Initialism of Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (A spacecraft of the ESA and NASA).
solar sail
A sail-like structure on a spacecraft consisting of very large ultrathin mirrors, with propulsion being achieved by the radiation pressure of light from a star or laser.
solid rocket
A rocket engine (rocket motor) that uses a solid propellant that, when combusted, generates gases which are used for rocket propulsion.
sonic boom
The audible effect of a shock wave in the air, especially one caused by an aircraft flying faster than the speed of sound.
sortie
An operational flight carried out by a single military aircraft.
sounding rocket
A suborbital rocket used to launch upper atmosphere, exoatmospheric, and microgravity sondes or probes.
space medicine
The branch of medicine that deals with the effects of space travel on human beings
space probe
A robotic space vehicle designed to voyage beyond Earth's orbit.
space-based
adjectiveAviation maintenance
Based in (or beginning from) space (especially in orbit, but sometimes on a planet or moon).
spacecraft
A vehicle that travels through space.
spaceship
A manned vehicle that flies through space.
SPE
Initialism of solar particle event.
speedball
An improvised adhoc airdrop resupply pack, composed of ammo, food and water, and other supplies, stuffed into a body bag or duffle bag.
spelk
Unusably short lengths of fibre-reinforced material, such as prepreg.
spoil
To reduce the lift generated by an airplane or wing by deflecting air upwards, usually with a spoiler.
spool
One of the rotating assemblies of a gas turbine engine, composed of one or more turbine stages, a shaft, and one or more compressor or fan stages.
SPURS
Acronym of Salinity Processes in the Upper Ocean Regional Study.
SRB
Initialism of solid rocket booster, NASA term for booster rockets that use solid rocket fuel and provide additional thrust to a main rocket.
sRLV
Initialism of suborbital reusable launch vehicle.
SSA
Initialism of Space Situational Awareness, a programme of the ESA.
SSED
Initialism of Solar System Exploration Division, a division at NASA.
SSTO
adjectiveAviation maintenance
Initialism of single-stage-to-orbit.
stab
The horizontal or vertical stabilizer of an aircraft.
stagger
The horizontal positioning of a biplane, triplane, or multiplane's wings in relation to one another.
Starfighter
The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, a jet fighter-interceptor.
stealth
adjectiveAviation maintenance
Having properties that diminish radar signatures.
steely-eyed missile man
An astronaut or engineer who quickly comes up with a solution to a difficult problem while under extreme pressure.
strap-on
adjectiveAviation maintenance
Of a booster rocket, that is mounted on the outside of a launch vehicle (typically around the first stage) to provide an additional boost at lift-off, ultimately separating after the first few minutes of ascent.
subsatellite
A component of a satellite that is released once in orbit
suspend
To remove the value of an unused coupon from an air ticket, typically so as to allow continuation of the next sectors' travel.
sustainer
A rocket engine that remains with a spacecraft during its ascent after the separation of the booster engines.
T-minus
phraseAviation maintenance
Specifies the remaining time until some future event such as a takeoff or encounter commences.
TA
Initialism of traffic advisory (a type of TCAS warning).
tail cone
A cone-shaped piece on the tail of a jet or aeroplane where exhaust escapes.
tailspin
The rapid, uncontrollable descent of an aircraft in a steep spiral.