TOKYO, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Japan's small lunar probe survived its third lunar night on the lunar surface, said Japan's space agency on Wednesday.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) announced that the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM), the touchdown of which made Japan the world's fifth lunar landing country, maintained its primary functions upon the wake-up.
A lunar night lasts about two weeks in Earth time, during which the surface temperature drops to about minus 170 degrees Celsius. In such conditions, many electronic devices carried by the probe may be affected.
The SLIM project team on Wednesday released images of the lunar surface captured by the probe's navigation camera on Tuesday evening on X, formerly Twitter, along with an update confirming successful communication with the reactivated SLIM on the same evening.
The team stated that while the SLIM has undergone three lunar nights, it continued to maintain its primary functions, which were not initially considered in its design.
The team is prepared to analyze which parts of the probe are prone to "age" in the lunar day-night environment.
In January, the SLIM probe successfully landed on the lunar surface. However, its solar panels were not facing the sun upon landing, leading the team to quickly shut down the probe's power through ground commands to prevent excessive discharge and permanent damage.
Subsequently, as the sunlight conditions changed, the probe alternated between restarting and entering sleep mode. ■