Beijing: 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.
Disputing India’s claim Ouyang Ziyuan, who is credited with founding China's lunar exploration programme, asserted that the Chandrayaan landing site is not actually situated in the southern pole region or anywhere near it.
India on August 23, 2023 created history becoming the first country in the world to land on the Moon’s little explored South Pole. Hours after landing on the Moon’s South Pole, the Vikram lander rolled out the Pragyan rover which explored the Moon’s South Pole and sent crucial data back to Earth before going to sleep after 14-days.
Rovers that land on the Moon are designed to operate for one lunar daylight period, which is about 14 Earth days. After this period, the Sun sets on the Moon, marking the start of a lunar night that lasts for another 14-15 Earth days.
As of now the ISRO scientists are trying to revive the Vikram lander and Pragyaan rover from hibernation after the two-week frosty lunar night. Amidst this waiting period, Ouyang Ziyuan has created a huge controversy by disputing India’s claims.
“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”, he said. “On Earth, 69 degrees south would be within the Antarctic Circle, but the lunar version of the circle is much closer to the pole. The Chandrayaan-3 was 619 kilometres (385 miles) distant from the polar region”, Ouyang told the Chinese publication Science Times.
“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”, he said.
“On Earth, 69 degrees south would be within the Antarctic Circle, but the lunar version of the circle is much closer to the pole. The Chandrayaan-3 was 619 kilometres (385 miles) distant from the polar region”, Ouyang told the Chinese publication Science Times.
Interestingly, India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission was launched when China’s Yutu 2 rover was already on the Moon. After the historic touchdown of Vikram lander, there were in fact also the speculations over Pragyan rover meeting its Chinese counterpart Yutu 2 which is operational since 2019 and has a much longer life than Pragyan.
China’s Chang'e-4 landed in the Von Karman crater in the South Pole-Aitkin Basin on January 3, 2019, becoming the first spacecraft to make a controlled landing on the far side of the Moon. Landing coordinates were 45.4561 S latitude, 177.5885 E longitude, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
The Chinese cosmochemist’s claims about Vikram’s landing site has given a new twist to the Indian Moon mission. ISRO has so far not made any comment on the claims made by the former Chief Scientist of China’s first lunar mission.
Right or wrong Ouyang’s public rebuttal of India’s claim of Chandryaan-3 landing on Moon’s South Pole is bound to worsen further the already soured relation between the two countries.
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