AP reports that in Tokyo, Japan’s space agency said Monday that its first moon lander replied to a signal from Earth, which suggests it made it through a second, cold lunar night that lasted for weeks.
The signal, which came in late Sunday night, was a “miracle” for JAXA because the probe wasn’t made to last through the moon night, when temperatures can drop to -274 degrees Fahrenheit (-170 degrees Celsius).
On January 20, the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) craft made a “pinpoint” landing on the moon. This made Japan the fifth country to safely land a probe on the moon.
But the probe fell on its back, so its solar panels couldn’t see the sun at first and had to be turned off within hours.
When SLIM got the sun eight days after landing, it got its power back. SLIM studied moon rocks for a few days to learn about the earth’s crust. In late January, it went back to sleep to wait out another lunar night.
JAXA said that contact on Sunday was short because it was still “lunar midday” and SLIM was very hot, at about 100 Celsius (212 Fahrenheit). JAXA is getting ready to get in touch again once the car has cooled down.
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By matching the minerals in moon rocks to those on Earth, scientists hope to learn more about how the moon came to be.
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