“SPORA” is an abbreviation for “Software Package Oriented to Research in Astronomy” (in Russian – “Specializirowannoie Programmnoie Obespechniie Rabot po Astronomii”).

The system is designed for the wide range for users who are not inclined to call themselves computer programmers. We assume that most of them only wish to state their problems as simply as possible – just to say which information they have and what they want to get. On the other hand some of these users have rich programming experience and they are fond of using sophisticated languages, like PL/1 or ALGOL 68, and writing complicated programs.