Japan’s SLIM probe regains power more than a week after moon landing

Japan’s SLIM spacecraft has regained power, its space agency said on Monday, more than a week after it landed on the moon but ran out of electricity.

TOKYO — Japan’s SLIM spacecraft has regained power, its space agency said on Monday, more than a week after it achieved an unconventionally precise lunar landing but ran out of electricity because its solar panels were at the wrong angle.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) re-established communication with its Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) late on Sunday, a JAXA spokesperson said, nearly nine days after the probe’s touchdown made Japan the fifth country to put a spacecraft on the moon.

The probe was most likely able to generate power thanks to a change in the sunlight’s direction, JAXA said.

SLIM resumed its operations to analyze the composition of olivine rocks on the lunar surface with its multi-band spectral camera, in search of clues about the origin of the moon, the agency added.

SLIM touched down on the moon within 180 feet of its target in a crater near the lunar equator on Jan. 20. JAXA said it proved an advancement in what it called vision-based “pinpoint” landing — a technology that could be a powerful tool for future exploration of hilly moon poles seen as a possible source of fuel, water and oxygen.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/japans-slim-probe-regains-power-week-moon-landing-rcna136119

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