Sharmila Kuthunur is a Seattle-based science journalist covering astronomy, astrophysics and space exploration. Follow her on X @skuthunur.
The Euclid"dark universe" probe's ailing vision has been restored after an experimental deicing campaign successfully evaporated ice from the telescope's mirrors, the European Space Agency announced on Tuesday . . So, scientists began"deicing" Euclid for the first time — from a million miles away — by heating one of its six mirrors that they strongly suspected was causing much of the issue.
ESA teams across the Netherlands, Germany and Spain collaborated with contractors Thales Alenia Space and Airbus Space on the campaign, the agency said. Scientists began warming the telescope when it was midnight at mission control to make sure they had constant contact with the spacecraft in case of anomalies.
Ice accumulation on mirrors isn't uncommon for space telescopes and therefore wasn't a total surprise to the Euclid mission team. It is close to impossible to prevent water droplets in the air from entering spacecraft during assembly, so"it was always expected that water could gradually build up and contaminate Euclid's vision," ESA officials said last week.
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