The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) announced that its first Japanese lunar lander responded to a signal from Earth, indicating that it unexpectedly survived a second lunar night amid sub-zero temperatures and reestablished contact. The agency described the signal received on Sunday evening as a "miracle" because the lander was not designed to survive the extreme cold of lunar nights, where temperatures drop to -170 degrees Celsius.
The lunar exploration rover "SLIM" landed on the moon last month, making Japan the fifth country to successfully place a spacecraft on the lunar surface. However, the rover landed in the wrong direction, preventing its solar panels from receiving sunlight initially, which necessitated shutting them down within hours.
On the eighth day after landing, the rover regained power shortly after the sun rose. The "SLIM" rover collected geological data from moon rocks before returning to a standby mode in anticipation of another lunar night. JAXA stated that the response to the signal was brief, as it was still "mid-lunar day," and the rover was in an extremely high temperature environment, approximately 100 degrees Celsius.
The agency is now preparing for another communication attempt once the rover cools down. Scientists hope to find evidence regarding the moon's origin by comparing the mineral compositions of its rocks with those found on Earth.
