Japan's Moon lander has produced another surprise by waking up after the two-week lunar night.

According to Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, the unmanned Smart Lander for Investigating Moon touched down last month at a wonky angle that left its solar panels facing the wrong way.

As the sun's angle shifted, it came back to life for two days and carried out scientific observations of a crater with a high-spec camera.

It went to sleep again as darkness returned and, since it was "not designed for the harsh lunar nights".

It said that SLIM succeeded in surviving a night on the Moon's surface while maintaining its communication function but communications were terminated after a short time.

It said preparations are being made to resume operations when instrument temperatures become sufficiently cooled."