Less than a year into its ambitious six-year survey mission, the European Space Agency’s Euclid telescope has encountered a challenging obstacle in the form of ice formation. The water absorbed during the telescope’s assembly is now being released in the vacuum of space, leading to the creation of ice layers that are disrupting Euclid’s critical observations.
The standard de-icing procedure involves increasing the spacecraft’s temperature, but this poses the risk of affecting the optical alignment during cooldown. To address this issue, the ESA has devised a plan to individually heat low-risk parts of the spacecraft in order to identify affected areas and prevent ice formation in the future.
It is anticipated that the de-icing procedure may need to be repeated periodically throughout Euclid’s operational lifetime due to small water releases within the spacecraft. The problem was initially detected when a decline in the brightness of stars was observed, indicating that the issue lay with the telescope’s optics rather than fluctuations in star luminosity.
Despite this setback, the ESA remains optimistic that resolving the ice formation problem could potentially lead to significant advancements in our understanding of dark matter and dark energy. By overcoming this challenge, Euclid could make substantial contributions to addressing a longstanding issue in space observation.
The team behind the Euclid mission is working diligently to address the optical issues and ensure that the telescope can continue its important work. Stay tuned for updates on the ESA’s efforts to overcome this unexpected hurdle in their quest to unlock the mysteries of the universe.
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