New de-icing Operation Begins

30 May 2024

After the successful ice decontamination procedure performed in March, ESA's Euclid operation team, along with partners in science and industry, has been continuously monitoring the health of Euclid's science instrumentation. As expected, water ice remains inside the cavity where the instruments are hosted.

As the level of ice is progressively increasing on the optical path toward the VIS instrument, so does its impact on Euclid scientific observations. It now requires attention, and the teams are planning to execute again in June the same targeted ice decontamination procedure. About one week of Euclid observation time will be devoted to this activity.

In parallel, the team is also investigating a full ice decontamination option that may be used in the future. The de-icing operations of Euclid's sensitive optics are expected to become a routine activity.