A Japanese spacecraft faceplanted on the Moon and lived to tell the tale
Japan's first lunar lander made an unsteady touchdown on the Moon last week, moments after one of its two main engines inexplicably lost power and apparently fell off the spacecraft, officials said Thursday.
About the size of a small car, the Small Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) landed on Friday, making Japan the fifth country to achieve a soft landing on the lunar surface. Shortly after landing, ground teams in Japan realized the spacecraft was not recharging its battery with its solar panels. The evidence at the time suggested that SLIM likely ended up in an unexpected orientation on the Moon, with its solar cells facing away from the Sun.
More: https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/01/a-japanese-spacecraft-faceplanted-on-the-moon-and-lived-to-tell-the-tale/
Japan's lander wakes up, takes blurry snap of Moon
Japan's Moon lander has woken up on the lunar surface and begun transmitting data back to controllers at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA.)
The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) made a successful landing on the lunar surface on January 19 but had to be shut down after only a few hours of operation due to its solar panels failing to generate power to keep the lander running.
More: https://www.theregister.com/2024/01/29/japan_lander_wakes_up_takes/