Introduction
Indian Chandrayaan-3 rover just achieved a historic landing close to the lunar South Pole. Escalating the competition between China and India for supremacy in lunar exploration. However, this success has sparked a disagreement between the two space superpowers, with a leading Chinese scientist casting doubt on the significance of India’s achievement.
In an interview with the Chinese-language Science Times journal. Ouyang Ziyuan, who is frequently credited with founding China’s lunar exploration programme, raised doubt on the veracity of the claims made about Chandrayaan-3’s landing, according to the Taipei Times.
Chinese Scientist
The Indian Chandrayaan-3 landing site, at 69 degrees south latitude, was nowhere near the pole. Defined as between 88.5 and 90 degrees. According to Chinese scientist Ouyang Ziyuan, who is credited with founding China’s lunar research programme.
The Antarctic Circle would be at 69 degrees south on Earth. But it is much closer to the pole on the moon. According to Ouyang, the Chandrayaan-3 was 619 kilometres (385 miles) away from the polar area.
Scientist’s Refute
“It’s wrong,” maintains Ouyang Ziyuan. The Indian 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. He highlights once more how far away from the poles Chandrayaan-3 was about 619 km. The issue is still raging because India’s space agency has not yet responded to these claims. Following Chandrayaan-3’s landing, Pang Zhihao, a well-known space expert based in Beijing, was quoted by the Chinese Communist Party’s Global Times as praising China’s scientific superiority in the area of lunar exploration.
The newspaper quoted him as adding that since the launch of Chang’e-2 in 2010, China’s space programme “has been capable of sending orbiters and landers directly into Earth-Moon transfer orbit, a manoeuvre that India has yet to deliver given the limited capacity of its launch vehicles. He continued, “The engine that China used is also significantly more advanced. But it’s important to note that Chandrayaan-3’s landing did establish an impressive precedent by travelling a great deal further south on the Moon than any earlier probe.
India’s Chandrayaan
Chandrayaan-3, an Indian satellite, travelled significantly farther south than any other satellite. ISRO is now awaiting communication from the Vikram lander and Pragyan rover on Chandrayaan-3. Till the next Moon sunset, which is scheduled for October 6. The Indian space agency will keep trying to revive the Chandrayaan-3 lander and rover.