Japan’s unmanned lunar lander has been reactivated after enduring its second frigid, two-week lunar night, and has transmitted new images back to Earth, Japan’s space agency announced on Thursday (Mar 28).
“We received a response from SLIM last night and confirmed that SLIM had successfully completed its second overnight,” the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said in a post on the official X account for its Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) probe.
“Since the sun was still high in the sky last night and the equipment was still hot, we recorded images of the usual scenery with the navigational camera, among other activities, for a short period of time,” it added.
Accompanying the update on the SLIM mission was a grayscale image capturing the rugged terrain of a crater, formerly posted on X and shared via a platform similar to Twitter.
The SLIM lander’s touchdown in January occurred at an unexpected angle, causing a misalignment of its solar panels. Despite this setback, marking Japan as the fifth country to achieve a lunar landing, JAXA decided to deactivate SLIM with 12 percent power remaining, leaving room for potential reactivation.
In late January, as the sun’s position shifted, SLIM briefly reawakened, utilizing its high-spec camera to conduct scientific observations. However, the harsh lunar nights, with temperatures dropping to minus 133 degrees Celsius, posed a challenge as SLIM was not designed for such conditions.
The successful revival of the spacecraft in late February brought relief to JAXA scientists, earning SLIM the nickname “Moon Sniper” for its precise landing capabilities.
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