Chandrayaan-3: Chinese scientist claims India's Moon landing was nowhere near lunar south pole

Chinese scientist, Ouyang Ziyuan, who is known as the father of China’s lunar exploration programme, has claimed that ISRO’s path-breaking achievement of lunar landing is overstated. Chandrayaan-3 landed on the Moon surface on August 23 after embarking on its journey from Sriharikota on July 14. 

The scientist told Chinese-language newspaper Science Times that the landing site, at 69 degrees south latitude, is not near the south pole. The south pole is defined at between 88.5 and 90 degrees, he said. 

According to a report in Bloomberg, 69 degrees south on Earth would be within the Antarctic Circle, but the circle on the lunar surface is much closer to the pole. 

“The landing site of Chandrayaan-3 is not at the lunar south pole, not in the lunar south pole region, nor is it near the lunar south pole region,” said Ziyuan, claiming that the lunar landing at the south pole is “wrong”. 

He said that the Chandrayaan-3 landing was 619 km away from the polar region. 

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Ziyuan is not the first Chinese scientist to have questioned Chandrayaan-3’s achievements. Earlier Pang Zhihao, a Beijing-based space expert, had told state mouthpiece Global Times that China is far more advanced in various areas. China can send orbiters and landers directly into the Earth-Moon transfer orbit since the launch of Chang'e-2 in 2010 – something India can’t do considering the limited capacity of its launch vehicles, the scientist had said. 

The engine China uses is also far advanced, the scientist had said. Its lunar rover is much bigger too, Pang had said. Pragyan has a lifespan of one lunar day and cannot withstand the lunar nights, but China’s Yutu-2 rover holds the record of working for the longest time on the lunar surface as it is nuclear-powered. 

China and India’s rivalry on most things – including space exploration – is rather well-known. However, even with the capacity China boasts, India ventured farther than any other spacecraft, including Russia, US and China.

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Russia’s Moon mission, Luna-25, scheduled to reach before Chandrayaan-3, crashed into the lunar surface. Russia’s first moon mission in 47 years crashed on August 19 as it spun out of control, crashed into the lunar surface and left a 10-metre wide crater on the Moon. 

China’s mission touched down 45 degrees south in 2019, and US’s Surveyor 7 landed at about 41 degrees south in 1968. 

The landing on the south pole of the Moon is of immense interest to countries. There is strong evidence that the lunar south pole has the presence of ice molecules, which could be of great significance for future space explorations.

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