On January 22, Japan's space agency, JAXA, announced that its lunar probe, which had successfully landed on the Moon two days prior, had transmitted flight data and images back to Earth.
JAXA is analyzing the data, which is expected to confirm the probe's pinpoint landing within 100 meters of the target location.
Unfortunately, the probe's solar panels failed to generate power, but SLIM was able to transmit the data using its built-in battery before JAXA engineers turned off the power.
Currently, the spacecraft is in a dormant state. Despite the setback with the solar panels, JAXA remains optimistic, as the probe still has 12% of its battery power left.
If sunlight hits SLIM's solar panels as the Moon orbits Earth, there is a chance that it may wake up and resume operations.
JAXA officials are hopeful that this will happen, but the potential revival remains uncertain. Even if the solar panels were functioning properly, the mission was scheduled to be completed in a few days due to the harsh conditions on the Moon.