THE “Moon Sniper” robotic explorer raised the flag of Japan after a successful moon landing a few days ago.
Japan’s space agency is hoping against hope the lander will soon recharge and not get stranded on the moon without gathering important data as part of its original plan.
The unmanned Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, or SLIM mission, landed on the lunar surface just after midnight on Saturday, local time in Japan.
But moon landing is just the beginning, and not the ultimate goal of any space mission.
A few minutes after landing, it was discovered the robotic explorer was operating on limited battery power.
As part of its internal procedures, Japan’s national space agency switched off the lander with just 12 percent power remaining before it got disconnected.
The lander’s solar cells are facing west and space authorities hope that sunlight will hit the Moon from the west in the future so it can recharge, generate power, and gather more scientific data that can be used for future explorations.
Space officials said scientific data obtained before the lander was disconnected is being transmitted back to Earth.
Japan is the fifth country to have successfully reached the moon after the United States, the Soviet Union, China, and India.