Even as the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is trying to nudge Pragyan rover and Vikram lander to break their slumber, a Chinese scientist has claimed that India’s Chandrayaan-3 did not land on Moon’s South Pole.
(CTN News) - The recent successful landing of India's Chandrayaan-3 rover on the moon has ignited a rivalry between Asia's two major spacefaring nations.
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.
Chandrayaan-3 landing: The scientist told Chinese-language newspaper Science Times that the landing site, at 69 degrees south latitude, is not near the south pole.