Japan's Slim moon craft short on power after successful lunar landing. Japan's Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) successfully landed on the lunar surface, but its solar panel failure poses a challenge

Japan's SLIM spacecraft successfully touched down on the lunar surface on Friday, making Japan the fifth nation to achieve a soft landing on the Moon.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has confirmed the landing of the spacecraft equipped with a variety of instruments, including a camera, a laser altimeter, and a magnetometer, which will be used to study the Moon's geology, environment, and resources.

However, SLIM's solar panel had failed to generate power, which could shorten its activity on the moon, the Japanese space agency said.

Space enthusiasts have observed via the minimal data sent by the spacecraft that the SLIM lander did not have a smooth landing, the spacecraft orientation—suggests that the lander may have rolled—is considered a possibility. SLIM is currently working on battery power. Moreover, confusion reigned after post landing, since it was not however immediately clear if the landing was successful, with the livestream ending inconclusively. A wait of just under two hours followed for clarification and confirmation. JAXA scientists have been struggling to fix the issue but without much success.

The batteries are expected to last just a few hours.