EDL

Abbreviation with 2 meanings

EDL
Stands forEntry, descent and landing
Meanings2
CategoriesScience & Engineering, Transportation & Travel

EDL has two meanings. It stands for Entry, descent and landing (astronomy & Space) or Enhanced driver's license (driving).

Meanings of EDL at a glance

#EDL stands forContext
1Entry, descent and landingScience & Engineering › Astronomy & Space
2Enhanced driver's licenseTransportation & Travel › Driving

1. Entry, descent and landing

Science & Engineering · Astronomy & Space Abbreviations

Phase of a planetary mission from reaching the top of the atmosphere to touching down, during which a spacecraft must slow from thousands of kilometers per hour to a safe landing. For Mars rovers it combines a heat shield, supersonic parachute, rockets and, for the largest rovers, a sky crane.

Example: NASA nicknamed Curiosity's EDL the "seven minutes of terror" because it ran autonomously.

Radio signals take several minutes to travel between Mars and Earth, so landings must be fully automated; engineers learn the outcome only after it has happened. Perseverance added terrain-relative navigation to steer away from hazards during EDL in 2021.

2. Enhanced driver's license

Transportation & Travel · Driving Abbreviations

State driver's license that also proves US citizenship and identity for land and sea border crossings from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean, using an RFID chip. Washington, Michigan, Minnesota, New York and Vermont issue them.

Example: With an EDL, we drove into Canada for the weekend without packing our passports.

Created under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. An EDL cannot be used for international air travel, which still requires a passport. Enhanced licenses are also REAL ID-compliant for domestic flights. Some Canadian provinces have issued similar enhanced licenses.

More astronomy & Space abbreviations

  • Dec – Declination
  • delta-v – Change in velocity
  • DM – Dark matter
  • DSO – Deep-sky object
  • EHT – Event Horizon Telescope
  • ELT – Extremely Large Telescope
  • ESA – European Space Agency
  • ESO – European Southern Observatory

See all 83 astronomy & Space abbreviations →

More driving abbreviations

  • DOL – Department of Licensing
  • DPS – Department of Public Safety
  • DVLA – Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency
  • DVSA – Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency
  • ELD – Electronic logging device
  • ETC – Electronic toll collection
  • FM – Farm to Market Road
  • FR-44 – FR-44 certificate of financial responsibility

See all 54 driving abbreviations →

Edited by the AbbreviationList.com team. Spotted an error or a missing meaning? Contact us.