Japan’s first successful lunar mission is now considered a “minimum success” after its second moon lander, “Moon Sniper,” turned back on, per CNN.
Moon Sniper made its scheduled landing on Jan. 20 but landed upside down and its solar cells could not get sunlight, per BBC. Japan’s first moon lander, “Hakuto-R,” crash-landed on the moon back in April 2023, according to Scientific American.
Japan was able to restore communication to their moon lander and receive photos of the lunar surface, per The Associated Press.
According to CNN, the probe had to use limited battery power to accomplish its semi-successful landing before being shut off to conserve battery, with hopes that some sunlight would reach its panels as the moon rotated.
Its mission is expected to last for only a few Earth days, but Japan says it may not survive another cold lunar night, according to AP.
Who else has landed on the moon?
This landing makes Japan the fifth country to successfully make it to the moon, per BBC. Previously, only the United States, the Soviet Union, China and India were able to get their probes to successfully land, per AP.
But with successes come failures, especially when the moon is involved. The U.S. had launched a spacecraft in early 2024, but it ended up burning out over the Pacific Ocean, and in 2023, Russia’s moon lander spun out of control before crashing into the lunar surface, per BBC.
Why are countries trying to reach the moon again?
According to BBC, Japan is hoping to find potential sources of water, fuel and oxygen with its moon lander. CNN notes that multiple countries are hoping to find water in the moon’s southern pole, a place where sunlight can’t reach.
Japan also hopes to find more clues about the moon’s formation by analyzing the composition of specific rocks known as olivine rocks with its multi-band spectral camera, according to AP.