Japan's SLIM Probe Regains Power, Resumes Lunar Operations

The spacecraft, which landed more than a week ago, overcame a power outage due to solar panel displacement and has resumed its mission to analyze lunar rocks.

Japan's SLIM spacecraft has regained power more than a week after it achieved a precise lunar landing but ran out of electricity because its solar panels were at the wrong angle.
The probe was likely able to generate power thanks to a change in the sunlight's direction, and has resumed its operations to analyse the composition of olivine rocks on the lunar surface.
SLIM lost the thrust of one of its two main engines shortly before the touchdown for unknown reasons and ended up drifting a few dozen metres away from the target.
The probe's solar panels faced westward due to the displacement and could not immediately generate power. JAXA manually unplugged SLIM's dying battery 2 hours and 37 minutes after the touchdown.
JAXA does not have a clear date when SLIM will end its operation on the moon, but the agency has previously said the lander was not designed to survive a lunar night. The next lunar night begins on Thursday.