The Japanese SLIM module was reactivated after surviving the freezing temperatures of a second moonlit night and transmitted new images to Earth, reported the Japanese space agency JAXA.
“We received a response from SLIM last night confirming that it has successfully completed its second lunar night,” JAXA explained on the social network account X dedicated to the mission.
The module that made Japan the fifth country to successfully land on the moonwas not designed to withstand the Earth’s satellite’s two-week frosty nights with temperatures as low as -133 °C.
However, it has already survived a first moonlit night in February and now After almost a month of inactivity, it was showing signs of life again.
“As the sun was still high in the sky and the equipment was hot, we took pictures of the usual landscape with the navigation camera and other activities for a short time,” explained JAXA, which published a black and white image of the rock superficial mole.
The module, He was nicknamed the “Moon Sniper” because of his accuracy during the moon landing.succeeded in landing on Earth’s satellite in January, a historic milestone for the Japanese aerospace industry.
The spacecraft landed just 55 meters from the predefined target, but in an inclined area so that its photovoltaic panels did not receive sunlight.
The JAXA agency decided to turn off the probe three hours after the moon landing to try Activate it again as soon as the direction of the sun’s rays changes.
At the end of January, the spacecraft resumed operations and resumed its scientific observation operations on the Moon for two days.
A month later, after surprisingly surviving his first lunar night, The module briefly reactivated before JAXA put it back to sleep until now.
The mission’s goal is to study part of the lunar mantle, the inner layer beneath its surface, which is said to be relatively easy to access from the crater where the module landed.
With information from AFP.
ORP
