Japan’s lunar probe regains power over a week after landing

Japan’s space agency said Monday that its first lunar lander had regained power and resumed operations, more than a week after its precision landing.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) had been in a dormant state since Jan. 20, due to the lander swaying sideways during descent and landing on its side, facing away from the sun. This resulted in the probe being unable to use solar cells to generate power, and it had to be switched off three hours later.

However, after over a week without contact, JAXA said in a post on X on Monday that the agency was able to reestablish communications with SLIM at 11 p.m. on Sunday.

With the shift from lunar evening to lunar night, the landing site began to face the sun, with light hitting the solar panels, bringing the probe back to life.

JAXA immediately reactivated SLIM’s Multi-Band Camera (MBC) to begin detailed observations of the moon’s surface, and it shared test images of its first 10-band observations online. Among the most notable is a lunar rock nicknamed “Toy Poodle,” which has been making the rounds on social media sites.

Information from Jiji added