Japan’s Moon lander, which briefly woke up, is now inactive once more. However, the space agency stated that it will continue its mission if it manages to survive the two-week lunar night.

Last month, the SLIM (Smart Lander for Investigating Moon) landed at an incorrect angle, causing its solar panels to face the opposite direction.

During this week, the sun’s position changed and it was able to carry out scientific observations of a crater for two days using its advanced camera.

“On X, formerly Twitter, space agency JAXA reported that #SLIM underwent a two-week period of inactivity during the extended lunar night after completing operations from 1/30 to 1/31.”

“Despite not being originally intended for the challenging lunar nights, we intend to make another attempt at operation starting in mid-February, once the Sun’s rays are once again able to reach SLIM’s solar panels.”

According to JAXA, SLIM has achieved its goal of completing observations as intended using its multiband spectroscopic camera. Additionally, it was able to study a larger number of target areas than initially anticipated.

On Thursday, the space agency also shared a monochrome image of the rocky surface captured by the spacecraft.

It followed other grainy images sent back from the mission to investigate an exposed area of the moon’s mantle, the inner layer usually deep beneath its crust.

On January 20, SLIM, also known as the “Moon Sniper” for its accurate landing abilities, successfully landed within its intended landing area.

Japan’s space program experienced a significant success with this achievement, following a series of unsuccessful attempts. This accomplishment marks the country as the fifth to achieve a “soft landing” on the moon, following the United States, the Soviet Union, China, and India.

However, while descending, the vehicle encountered engine difficulties and ultimately landed on its side, resulting in the solar panels facing westward instead of upward.

Countries such as Russia, China, and others ranging from South Korea to the United Arab Emirates are attempting to make it to the moon.

In January, the Peregrine lunar lander from U.S. company Astrobotic experienced a fuel leak after launch, causing its mission to fail. It is believed that the lander was destroyed upon reentry into the Earth’s atmosphere.

The Artemis program, which includes crewed lunar missions, has been delayed by NASA.