| BZ | blast zone |
| CEA | Chemical Equilibrium with Applications |
| CLPS | Commercial Lunar Payload Services |
| CoPP | Committee on Planetary Protection |
| COSPAR | Committee on Space Research, International Council of Science |
| HLS | Human Landing System |
| ISRU | in situ resource utilization |
| LAMP | Lyman Alpha Mapping Project |
| LCROSS | Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite |
| LEAG | Lunar Exploration Assessment Group |
| LM | Lunar Module, Apollo Program |
| LRO | Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter |
| MESSENGER | Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry and Ranging mission |
| NASA | National Aeronautics and Space Administration |
| NASEM | National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine |
| NID | NASA Interim Directive |
| PPIRB | Planetary Protection Independent Review Board |
| PSR | permanently shadowed region |
| VIPER | Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover |