Japan’s Unmanned Moon Lander Reactivates After Lunar Night
Last month, the unmanned Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) landed with a skewed orientation, causing its solar panels to face the incorrect direction. However, as the sun’s position changed, it became operational for two days, conducting scientific investigations of a crater using a high-resolution camera.
Reactivation and New Images Sent
Japan’s unmanned Moon lander has reactivated after enduring its second cold, two-week lunar night, and has sent back new images to Earth, according to Japan’s space agency 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.
