"Euclid Space Telescope's Vision Restored Through De-icing Campaign"
The European Space Agency successfully restored the vision of the Euclid "dark universe" telescope by conducting an experimental deicing campaign, which evaporated ice from the telescope's mirrors. Ice layers as thin as a single DNA strand had been affecting the telescope's ability to capture starlight, but heating one of its mirrors from a million miles away resulted in a 15% increase in light capture. While ice accumulation on space telescopes is not uncommon, the Euclid mission team plans to repeat the decontamination procedure every six to 12 months to maintain the telescope's vision as it aims to study dark matter and dark energy.