China s top scientist, Ouyang Ziyuan, has disputed India s claim of landing its Chandrayaan-3 rover near the lunar south pole, stating that the landing site was nowhere close to the pole. Ouyang said the Chandrayaan-3 was 619 kilometers away from the polar region. China s space program, according to Pang Zhihao, a Beijing-based senior space expert, has better technology and has been capable of sending orbiters and landers directly into Earth-Moon transfer orbit since 2010.
Among the points the ISRO Chairperson discussed were the many challenges he has faced over the course of his career, including (the now scarcely believable) contention "my position (in ISRO) was threatened. I could have been thrown out".
"How can we be launching satellites for everybody else but can't manage roads in monsoon. How can we have this contrast? There is something seriously wrong in our society if we can't leverage the scientific advancements we are making," he said.