The Japan Space Agency (JAXA) has resumed communications with its lunar probe SLIM, confirming that the spacecraft survived the cold lunar night.
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This was reported today, February 26, by the Japanese television channel NHK.
SLIM landed on the Moon on January 20, making Japan the fifth country to do so. But the solar panel was turned the wrong way, so the device was unable to generate power. SLIM began research a few days after it was exposed to sunlight and communications were restored.
The probe went into a dormant state after the lunar night fell in the area where it landed. The last time SLIM contacted us was January 31st.
JAXA notes that SLIM was not designed to withstand nights when temperatures drop to minus 170 degrees Celsius. However, they sent a command to the probe after the Sun shone again over the landing point, and received a response.
After some time, communication with the probe was stopped to avoid failure of the communication equipment, the temperature of which exceeded 100 degrees Celsius.
The agency says it will try to reconnect with the probe and use a special camera to monitor it further to collect more data. The probe previously used a camera to collect data on 10 rocks – data that will be used to determine the origin of the Moon.
Source: NHK
Source: Racurs
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