Solar Polar Orbit Telescope (SPORT) Forum

The Forum on the Solar Polar Orbit Telescope (SPORT) was held at ISSI-BJ on November 24-25,2013. It follows on a previous forum on the 'Future of Out –of –the-Ecliptic (OOE) and In Situ Observations of the Sun' organized by the International Space Science Institute (ISSI) in Bern in 2010.

A total of 30 leading scientists from 7 countries participated in this Forum convened by Profs Wu Ji (NSSC, CAS), Roger Bonnet (ISSI), Maurizio Falanga (ISSI-BJ), George Parks (UC Berkeley) and Liu Ying (NSSC,CAS).

SPORT was originally proposed in 2004 by NSSC, CAS , and is now under a scientific and engineering background study in China.. SPORT will carry a suite of remote-sensing and in-situ instruments to observe coronal mass ejections (CMEs), solar high-latitude magnetism, and the fast solar wind from a polar orbit around the Sun. It is intended to be the first mission that carries remote-sensing instruments from a high-latitude orbit around the Sun, the first mission that could image interplanetary CMEs at radio wavelengths from space, and the first mission that could measure solar high-latitude magnetism leading to eruptions and the fast solar wind. SPORT would provide a unique opportunity to study CME propagation through the inner heliosphere from a vantage point at high latitude and investigate solar high-latitude magnetism giving rise to eruptions and the fast solar wind.

The Forum covered the current missions and mission concepts of exploring the inner heliosphere (e.g., Solar Probe Plus, Solar Orbiter, SPORT, Interhelioprobe, Solar Polar Imager), relevant scientific research, and instrumentation techniques. It is agreed that these satellite missions should be coordinated within an 'International Living With a Star (ILWS)' framework. Particularly, all participants comprehensively discussed the scientific objectives, satellite orbit design, satellite platform, and payload configuration of the SPORT mission. Such a discussion contributes to SPORT’s scientific and engineering background studies in China. This Forum significantly enhanced international cooperation and communication of the SPORT team, and further increased the visibility of the SPORT mission at an international horizon.

Following the discussions, a report will be provided to ISSI-BJ for distribution to the science communities and or space science institutions.

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