Japan shuts down its SLIM moon lander in hopes it will restart someday

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) shut down its moon lander days after its historic arrival due to power concerns. Here, JAXA's leaders brief the media about the successful moon mission, and a problem with the lander's solar cell Friday. (JIJI PRESS/AFP via Getty Images)

Will Japan's moon lander get a charge from the sun — or will its mission be cut short when its battery dies?

Japan's space agency is facing that question now, even as it basks in the glow of becoming just the fifth country to achieve a soft landing on the moon. When it celebrated that feat on Friday (ET), the agency also announced that its spacecraft named SLIM, for Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, seemed unable to get electricity from its solar cell.