TOKYO: A small unmanned Japanese probe that landed on the moon resumed operations after becoming able to recharge, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, said Monday.

The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, or SLIM, had been in a dormant state after its solar cells failed to generate power. It is believed that the direction of the sun has changed, making it possible for the probe’s westward-facing solar panels to access sunlight.

JAXA said that communication with SLIM was restored around 11 p.m. Sunday. The agency reactivated the probe’s spectroscopic camera and began detailed observation of the composition of rocks on the lunar surface.

SLIM touched down near the Shioli crater in Mare Nectaris, or the Sea of Nectar, to the south to the lunar equator in the early hours of Jan. 20.

It was Japan’s first successful moon landing, making it the fifth country to do so. The probe achieved the world’s first so-called pinpoint landing, touching down at a location within 100 meters of its target, on the moon.

But one of the two main engines was damaged just before landing, making the probe stand upside down and forcing it to direct its solar panels west instead of upward as planned.

SLIM ran on its battery soon after landing as sunlight shone from the east. After extracting data gathered before and after landing for roughly three hours, JAXA turned off the probe’s power.

JIJI Press