The Japanese lunar lander regained power nine days after landing on the surface of the Moon. almost upside down and was subsequently extinguished, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) announcement. A change in the position of the sun allowed the solar panels to receive light and charge the probe's battery, allowing JAXA to re-establish communication.
Things looked dire shortly after the SLIM (Smart Lander for Investigating Moon) landed. The agency immediately noticed a problem with power generation, but was able to launch two probes to the Moon's surface. The Lunar Excursion Vehicle 2 (LEV-2) took an incredible photo of SLIM, showing it upside down with its panels pointing towards the sun. The cause turned out to be a main engine malfunction.
Communication with SLIM was successfully established last night and operations have resumed! Science observations began immediately with the MBC and we obtained first light for the 10-band observation. This figure shows the “toy poodle” observed during multiband observation. pic.twitter.com/WYD4NlYDaG
– 小型月着陸実証機SLIM (@SLIM_JAXA) January 29, 2024
JAXA thought there was a chance the probe could recover once the sun's rays moved more toward the solar panels, and that's exactly what happened. Shortly after power was restored, he took another photo of a previously imaged rock formation called a “toy poodle” using a multi-band spectral camera. The team is also targeting several other rocks with canine-themed names, including “St. Bernard,” “Bulldog” and “Shibainu.”
The upside-down landing may have seemed like an irreparable flaw, but it appears the mission can now go more or less as planned. As the baseball-sized LEV-2 explores the surface (relaying data through the LEV-1 probe, which also has two cameras), SLIM will capture all the science it can.
Regardless, the mission was already considered a success since the primary objective was a precision landing. He did just that, hitting a spot just 55 meters (180 feet) from his target. It is unclear how much longer SLIM will be able to operate, as it was never designed to survive one solar night and the next one will be on Thursday.