Top Chinese scientist claims that India’s Chandrayaan-3 didn’t land on the Moon’s south pole

A prominent Chinese scientist has made a controversial assertion that India’s lunar mission, Chandrayaan-3, did not successfully land on the Moon’s south pole, challenging the historic achievement claimed by New Delhi.

These remarks come at a time when Indian scientists are attempting to revive the Vikram lander and Pragyaan rover, which have been in hibernation during the two-week lunar night.

Chinese cosmochemist Ouyang Ziyuan, who served as the chief scientist of China’s inaugural lunar mission, made these claims on Wednesday. He also contended that the spacecraft did not land near the lunar south pole or in its polar region, contradicting India’s assertions.

Ouyang’s argument is rooted in differing definitions of the Moon’s southern pole region. On Earth, the southern pole is defined as anywhere between 66.5 and 90 degrees south, due to our planet’s tilt of around 23.5 degrees relative to the Sun. In contrast, Ouyang maintains that the Moon’s tilt is only 1.5 degrees, resulting in a much smaller polar region.

NASA defines the Moon’s South Pole as ranging from 80 to 90 degrees, while Ouyang’s interpretation narrows it down to just 88.5 to 90 degrees, reflecting the Moon’s 1.5-degree tilt.

It’s important to note that no one has previously challenged or disputed India’s successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the Moon’s southern pole. In fact, both NASA and the European Space Agency have commended ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) scientists for achieving a soft landing near the far side of the Moon. India has consistently stated that the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft was intended to land around 70 degrees latitude, which is in close proximity to the south pole.

A scientist from Hong Kong University’s Laboratory for Space Research dismissed Ouyang’s unsubstantiated claims, emphasizing that successfully landing a rover near the Moon’s south pole, within the defined south pole region, is a significant achievement. He stressed that India’s accomplishments should not be diminished in any way due to Ouyang’s comments.