Almost all moon landers break down during the extraordinarily cold of lunar night, but Japan’s Smart Lander for Investigating Moon has astonishingly survived three nights
Japan had its moment in the Moon’s glow earlier this year when scientists landed a lunar probe on the surface of our nearest celestial neighbor. The landing didn’t quite go to plan, though, as the probe landed face-first.
SLIM, which was tasked with testing Japan's pinpoint landing technology and collecting geological data and images, was not designed to survive lunar nights.
Japan's Moon lander woke up for a third time after its main functions survived another frigid two-week lunar night, the country's space agency said Wednesday.
I'm Still Alive Japan's first Moon lander just refuses to die. The spacecraft dubbed Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) has sent back yet another image three months after it landed upside down on the lunar surface.