Japan Moon probe survives second lunar night

TOKYO: Japan’s Moon lander woke up ater unexpectedly surviving a second frigid, twoweek lunar night and transmited new images back to Earth, the country’s space agency said on Thursday.

The unmanned Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) probe touched down in January, making Japan only the fith nation to reach the lunar surface without crashing.

But the lightweight spacecrat landed at a wonky angle that let its solar panels facing the wrong way.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency announced the probe’s latest surprise awakening in a post on X, formerly Twiter.

“We received a response from SLIM last night and confirmed that SLIM had successfully completed its second overnight,” it said.

A black-and-white photo of the rocky surface of a crater accompanied the post on SLIM’S official account.

“Since the sun was still high in the sky... 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 said. Thursday’s news came ater an uncrewed American lander called Odysseus - the first private spaceship to successfully land on the Moon - had failed to wake up.

Its manufacturer, the Houston-based Intuitive Machines, had hoped the lander might revive like Japan’s SLIM, but on Saturday declared the lander’s mission over.

The Intuitive Machines spaceship also landed at the wrong angle but was able to complete several tests and send back photos before the most recent lunar night began.

JAXA has dubbed SLIM the “Moon Sniper” for its precision landing technology.

The aim of its mission was to examine a part of the Moon’s mantle - the usually deep inner layer beneath its crust - believed to be accessible at the crater where it landed.

About three hours ater its nail-biting touchdown on Jan.20, JAXA switched the lander off remotely to save power, having received technical and image data from its descent.