Cassini CIRS Post Launch Support

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CIRS is an interferometer on board Cassini covering the frequency range 10 - 1400 cm-1 ( 7 to 1000 microns ) with a resolution of 0.5 cm-1. This very wide spectral range includes spectral signatures of many atmospheric gases and CIRS can be used to detect new species, particularly hydrocarbons, to map known species, and to measure vertical profiles of temperature and abundance. CIRS development was led by Goddard Space Flight Center but Oxford University was heavily involved in the instrument design, development and fabrication. The UK funded hardware contributions were a cooler and focal plane assembly for the middle infrared and polarising grids (from QMW, now Cardiff) for the far infrared. This grant support the continued operation of the instrument including planning of sequences of observations and processing of the raw data returned.