"Chinese Lunar Expert Challenges Indian Moon South Pole Landing Assertion"

 "Chinese Lunar Expert Challenges Indian Moon South Pole Landing Assertion"

In a race for lunar exploration supremacy, India's Chandrayaan-3 rover recently achieved a historic landing near the lunar South Pole. However, this achievement has sparked a debate between India and China, with a leading Chinese scientist, Ouyang Ziyuan, questioning the significance of India's accomplishment.

Ouyang Ziyuan, often considered the pioneer of China's lunar exploration program, expressed skepticism about Chandrayaan-3's landing in an interview with the Chinese-language Science Times newspaper. He argued that the Indian rover's landing site, at 69 degrees south latitude, falls considerably short of the lunar South Pole, which is officially defined as being between 88.5 and 90 degrees. Essentially, he contends that India's achievement, while remarkable, does not truly qualify as a polar landing.

It becomes clear that 69 degrees south on the Moon is not comparable to the Antarctic Circle on our planet, which is significantly farther from the South Pole when comparing the lunar coordinates to their Earthly counterparts.

It's incorrect, Ouyang Ziyuan emphasized. The Chandrayaan-3 landing site is not close or at the lunar South Pole, nor is it anywhere near the vicinity of the lunar South Pole. Chandrayaan-3 was roughly 619 km away from the Arctic region, he noted.

India's space agency has not yet responded to these comments, leaving the controversy simmering in the background.

By traveling a great deal further south on the Moon than any earlier spacecraft, Chandrayaan-3's landing did indeed establish an amazing precedent. To provide some background, let's note that Russia's most recent attempt to land close to the lunar South Pole was unsuccessful, China's Chang'e 4 successfully landed about 45 degrees south in 2019, and NASA's Surveyor 7 successfully landed at roughly 41 degrees south in 1968. India's lunar exploration accomplishment is still a key turning point in the current space competition, notwithstanding the ongoing dispute.