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Moon lander 'resumed operations': Japan

AFP . Tokyo
29 Jan 2024 10:07:59 | Update: 29 Jan 2024 11:03:55
Moon lander 'resumed operations': Japan
An image of the lunar surface taken and transmitted by LEV-2 "SORA-Q" the transformable lunar surface robot "SORA-Q" installed on the private company's lunar module for the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon on January 25, 2024 — AFP Photo

Japan's Moon lander has resumed operations, the space agency said, indicating that power had been restored.

"Last evening we succeeded in establishing communication with SLIM, and resumed operations," JAXA said on X, formerly Twitter.

"We immediately started scientific observations with MBC, and have successfully obtained first light for 10-band observation," it said, referring to the lander's multiband spectroscopic camera.

The agency also posted on X an image shot by the probe of "toy poodle", a rock observed near the lander.

The touchdown earlier this month made Japan only the fifth nation to achieve a soft lunar landing, after the United States, the Soviet Union, China and India.

But after the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) touched down, JAXA had said that it could not confirm that the lightweight craft's solar batteries were generating power.

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