Chandrayaan-3 China and India are now engaged in an interplanetary rivalry. India became the first nation to send a spacecraft close to the lunar south pole with the successful landing of the Chandrayaan-3 last month, breaking China’s previous record for the southernmost lunar landing.
Chinese Scientist Challenges Chandrayaan-3’s Lunar South Pole Claim
However, a renowned Chinese scientist has now asserted that the Chandrayaan-3 landing site is neither the lunar south pole, nor is it even close to the lunar south pole region. The Chandrayaan-3 landing location, at 69 degrees south latitude, is far from the pole, which is defined as being between 88.5 and 90 degrees. Ouyang Ziyuan, hailed as the founder of China‘s lunar exploration programme, acknowledged as much in an interview with the Chinese-language Science Times newspaper.
Differing Claims on Lunar South Pole Proximity
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. According to Bloomberg, top space scientist Pang Zhihao from Beijing claimed that China has considerably better technology following the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3. “China’s space program has been capable of sending orbiters and landers directly into Earth-Moon transfer orbit since the launch of Chang’e-2 in 2010, a maneuver that India has yet to deliver given the limited capacity of its launch vehicles. The engine that China used is also far more advanced,” Zhihao said.
India’s Chandrayaan-3 Sets Record Despite Location Dispute
Even still, Chandrayaan-3 from India travelled considerably further south than any other mission. 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.
Moon Landing Sites Compared
Chang’e 4, a Chinese spacecraft, made the first landing on the far side of the moon in 2019 at a latitude of 45 degrees south. In 1968, the Surveyor 7 NASA spacecraft, which was unmanned, arrived to the moon at roughly 41 degrees south. In preparation for their forthcoming ambitions to send astronauts to the moon for the first time since NASA‘s Apollo programme came to an end 50 years ago, both the US and China are looking to the region.
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