- By Greg Brosnan
- BBC News Climate and Science
Jaxa produced this render of Slim to show the awkward landing orientation that pointed the solar cells away from the Sun
Japan’s Moon lander has survived the harsh lunar night, the sunless equivalent to two Earth weeks.
“Last night, a command was sent to #SLIM and a response received,” national space agency Jaxa said on X.
The craft was put into sleep mode after an awkward landing in January left its solar panels facing the wrong way and unable to generate power.
A change in sunlight direction later allowed it to send pictures back but it shut down again as lunar night fell.
Jaxa said at the time that Slim (Smart Lander for Investigating Moon) was not designed for the harsh lunar nights, which last for the equivalent of two Earth weeks.
It said it planned to try to operate again from mid-February, when the Sun would shine again on Slim’s solar cells.
Jaxa said that communication with the lander was terminated after a short time – it was lunar midday, meaning the temperature of the communications equipment was very high.
It said preparations were being made to resume operations when instrument temperatures had cooled sufficiently.
Jaxa will be hoping that having survived the lunar night it will be able to continue its work.
The landing in January made Jaxa only the fifth national space agency to achieve a soft touchdown on the Moon – after the US, the former Soviet Union, China and India.
A US spacecraft, the Odysseus Moon lander, made history on Thursday by becoming the first ever privately built and operated robot to complete a soft lunar touchdown.
Like Slim, it also landed awkwardly. Controllers at the operating company, Intuitive Machines, think their robot tipped on to its side at the moment of touchdown. Odysseus does, however, appear still to be functional and is communicating with Earth.
No pictures from the mission at the surface have yet been released.
Dr. Thomas Hughes is a UK-based scientist and science communicator who makes complex topics accessible to readers. His articles explore breakthroughs in various scientific disciplines, from space exploration to cutting-edge research.
