Science

JAXA’s SLIM Reactivates After One Month of Dormancy; Successful ‘Over-Night’ at Minus 170 Degrees Again

A picture taken from SLIM’s X (formerly Twitter) account shows a view of the lunar surface taken by SLIM after it was reactivated after about a month-long dormancy.

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:24 JST, March 28, 2024

The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, or SLIM, has reactivated for the first time after being dormant for about a month, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said Thursday.

The lunar night is a harsh environment where the temperature drops to minus 170 C, but SLIM succeeded in “over-nighting” again.

According to JAXA, communication with SLIM was reestablished on Wednesday, and the onboard camera was used to take images of the lunar surface.

SLIM was resurrected from its initial dormancy on Feb. 25 and resumed communication with the team on the ground. It became dormant again on March 1 when night fell on the landing site.