A Japanese probe surprises scientists by surviving the second lunar night space

a a night The moon lasts about two Earth weeks It is a harsh period in which temperatures reach below -130 degrees Celsius. It is not easy to ensure the operation of space equipment under these conditions. But surprisingly the probe Japanese Intelligent lander for lunar exploration SLIM managed to pass this night course for the second time.

At the end of last February, SLIM, affiliated with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), “woke up” for the first time after the lunar night, as Reuters reported. news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The Japanese agency announced, Thursday (28), that the probe “woke up” again and sent new images into space Land. This feat is particularly notable because the probe was not designed to survive the lunar night.

“Last night, we received a response from SLIM, confirming that the spacecraft was able to encounter the lunar night for the second time!” The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency wrote on its website. X (formerly Twitter). “Since the sun was still high and the equipment was still hot, we took some photos of the usual landscape using the navigation camera,” the agency explained, sharing a photo of the lunar surface.

SLIM is part of a a task Which seeks to test smaller, lighter landing technologies, as well as explore the origins of the moon, and reached Earth's natural satellite last January, making Japan the fifth country to land on the moon's surface. In fact, due to the precision of the lander's landing technique, the equipment is also known as the “Moon Sniper.”

Although the landing was successful, it deviated slightly from plans and was done at an inappropriate angle, leaving the solar panels facing in the wrong direction. Three hours later, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency decided to shut down the lunar probe to conserve energy.

Over time, the angle of the sun changed. This allowed SLIM to return to work in late January for two days and conduct scientific observations.