TOKYO—Japan's space agency announced on Monday that the country's first moon lander may have survived a second, icy lunar night after responding to a signal from Earth.
The probe was not intended to survive the moon night, when temperatures can drop below minus 170 degrees Celsius (minus 274 degrees Fahrenheit), thus JAXA dubbed the signal that was received late on Sunday night a "miracle."
As a result of the craft's "pinpoint" landing on January 20, Japan became the fifth nation to successfully land a probe on the moon: the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, or SLIM.
However, the probe landed upside down, and its solar panels had to be shut off within hours since they could not see the sun at first.
On the seventh day following its arrival, SLIM was able to restore power when it faced the sun. After gathering geological information from moon rocks for a few days, SLIM went back into sleep in late January to wait for one more lunar night.
According to JAXA, Sunday's communications were kept to a minimum because it was still "lunar midday" and SLIM's temperature was a scorching 100 degrees Celsius (212 Fahrenheit). As soon as the car has cooled, JAXA is getting ready to reconnect.
By comparing the mineral compositions of rocks from the moon and Earth, scientists hope to uncover hints about the moon's formation.
