Japanese moon probe back to work after sun reaches its solar panels

A Japanese moon explorer is up and running Monday after several tense days without the sunlight it needs to generate power. Japan's first lunar mission hit its target in a precision touchdown on January 20, but landed the wrong way up, leaving its solar panels unable to see the sun. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, said Monday that it successfully established communication with the probe Sunday night, and the craft has resumed its mission, taking pictures of the Moon’s surface and transmitting them to the Earth. After a last-minute engine failure caused the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, or SLIM, to make a rougher-than-planned landing, JAXA used battery power to gather as much data as possible about the touchdown and the probe's surroundings. With power, SLIM has continued work to analyze the composition of olivine rocks on the lunar surface with its multi-band spectral camera, seeking clues about the Moon's origin and evolution, the agency said.