More than a month after the spacecraft’s historic “pinpoint” landing on the moon, Japan’s space agency announced on Monday that its SLIM moon lander had unexpectedly survived a freezing lunar night and had resumed contact with Earth.
The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) touched down on the lunar surface last month, making Japan the fifth country to put a probe on the moon. U.S.-based Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus followed suit last week, as countries and businesses race for the moon in search of resources and human habitability.
Shortly after landing within 55 m (180 ft) of its target just south of the moon’s equator, SLIM ran out of power because it had tipped over and its solar panels were at the wrong angle.
Its solar panels regained electricity more than a week later thanks to change in the sunlight’s direction. The operator Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency had previously said the probe was not designed to survive a lunar night.
