| CAD/CAM | Computer-Aided Design/and Computer-Aided Manufacturing |
| CE | Chief Engineer |
| CHMO | Chief Health and Medical Officer |
| CIO | Chief Information Officer |
| CMMI® | Capability Maturity Model® Integration |
| CMMI®-DEV | Capability Maturity Model® Integration® (CMMI®) for Development |
| CMU | Carnegie Mellon University |
| CO | Contracting Officer |
| COR | Contracting Officer Representative |
| COTS | Commercial-Off-the-Shelf |
| CSCI | Computer Software Configuration Item |
| CSMA | Chief, Safety and Mission Assurance |
| EDL | Entry, Descent, and Landing |
| ETA | Engineering Technical Authority |
| EVA | Extra Vehicular Activity |
| FAR | Federal Acquisition Regulations |
| FFRDC | Federally Funded Research and Development Center |
| GOTS | Government-Off-the-Shelf |
| HDBK | Handbook |
| IEEE | Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers |
| IPEP | IV&V Project Execution Plan |
| IT | Information Technology |
| IV&V | Independent Verification and Validation |
| JPL | Jet Propulsion Laboratory |
| KSLOC | Kilo/Thousand Source Lines of Code |
| MC/DC | Modified Condition/Decision Coverage |
| MDAA | Mission Directorate Associate Administrator |
| MOTS | Modified Off-the-Shelf |
| NASA | National Aeronautics and Space Administration |
| NPD | NASA Policy Directive |
| NPR | NASA Procedural Requirements |
| NTR | New Technology Report |
| OCE | Office of the Chief Engineer |
| OCHMO | Office of Chief Health and Medical Officer |
| OCIO | Office of Chief Information Officer |
| OP | Office of Procurement |
| OSMA | Office of Safety and Mission Assurance |
| OSS | Open-Source Software |
| PLD | Programmable Logic Devices |
| POC | Point of Contact |
| SAISO | Senior Agency Information Security Officer |
| SCM | Software Configuration Management |
| SEI | Software Engineering Institute |
| SMA | Safety and Mission Assurance |
| SOW | Statement of Work |
| SPAN | Software Process Across NASA |
| SWE | Software Engineering |
| TA | Technical Authority |
| US | United States |
| WBS | Work Breakdown Structure |