Photo/Illutration An image of a lunar rock nicknamed “Toy poodle,” captured by the revived SLIM probe ((C) JAXA)

Awakened from its slumber, Japan’s lunar probe has resumed its mission, sending new images back to Earth, powered by its solar panels that finally started to generate electricity.

“We have successfully re-established communication with the probe, which is operative again!” announced the project team of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency on Jan. 29 on the social media platform X.

JAXA said it received signals from its Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) probe around 11 p.m. on Jan. 28, nearly nine days after the lunar lander’s power was turned off following a solar panel failure.

Using its special camera, SLIM has since resumed inspecting rocks tagged for further study shortly after its Jan. 20 touchdown on the moon.

The probe has transmitted data including a close-up image of one of those rocks, nicknamed “Toy Poodle.”

While celebrating its historic pinpoint lunar touchdown, the probe faced a major setback with the solar panel malfunction.

After examining the lunar surface for only 45 minutes on its built-in battery, the probe was turned off with 12 percent of its battery power remaining to prepare for a restart.

The solar panels didn’t work because they were facing west, away from the sun.

For several hours each day, JAXA officials patiently attempted to re-establish contact with SLIM, hoping the probe would restart if sunlight illuminated the solar cells from the west as the moon orbited the Earth.

With the lunar sunset approaching around Feb. 1 at SLIM's location, the lander is expected to have enough time to complete its planned multi-day mission.

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