TOKYO, Jan. 20:
(Xinhua) — Japan’s national space agency on Saturday confirmed the moon landing of the Small Lunar Landing Demonstrator (SLIM), but its solar cells are not generating electricity.
The unmanned probe landed on the moon at 12:20 a.m. Saturday local time, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said in an online statement, noting that communication had been established after the landing.
As SLIM’s solar cells are not generating electricity, it is working on backup batteries which would only last for hours, JAXA officials told a press conference on Saturday. The agency said it is prioritizing data acquisition from the lunar surface.
