Against almost astronomical odds, Japan's Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) has re-established communications with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
What is Japan's Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM)? | DW News
The lunar lander arrived on the lunar surface in January. Unfortunately, it face-planted, leaving its solar panels in a sub-optimal position. It was turned off after a few hours of operation to save power.
Scientists were briefly able to restart it a couple of weeks later and transmit data – including images of the moon – when the sun was shining from the right direction.
SLIM has been hibernating since then. During that time, the area where SLIM landed experienced a huge drop in temperature as lunar night fell, lasting the equivalent of two Earth weeks.
