After losing contact with the spacecraft in late April. The lunar lander surpassed performance expectations, successfully performing spectral observations in ten wavelength bands on ten rocks and surviving six weeks – or three lunar nights – on the surface where temperatures can drop to minus 170 degrees Celsius.
In a statement released on August 26 JAXA said they had unsuccessfully attempted to re-establish contact with SLIM during operational periods across May to July before deciding to send a signal to shut down the lander.
The January landing made Japan the fifth country to soft land on the lunar surface, however its solar panels were facing the wrong way, foreshadowing the uphill battle ahead of the mission.
The batteries allowed the lander to conduct it’s experiments before depleting, but JAXA did manage to re-established contact twice after that, receiving data and images back both times, but the last communication was on April 28.
