Top Chinese scientist claims Chandrayaan-3 didn't land on lunar south pole. Here's why

A top Chinese scientist has claimed that Chandrayaan-3 did not land on the moon's south pole. Ouyang Ziyuan who is called the father of China’s moon missions told Chinese-language newspaper Science Times that Chandrayaan-3 did not land on the lunar south pole or the lunar south pole region or near the south pole region.

'The landing site of the Chandrayaan-3 was not at the moon’s south pole, not in the polar region of the moon’s south pole, nor was it ‘near the Antarctic polar region,' South China Morning Post quoted him as saying

Ouyang Ziyuan said that Chandrayaan-3 landed at 69 degrees south latitude that is nowhere close to the pole. He added that the lunar south pole is defined as between 88.5 and 90 degrees. He also pointed out that India's moon mission landed 619 kilometers away from the polar region.

The Chinese scientist went on to explain that the south polar region on Earth is considered between 66.5 and 90 degrees due to the planet's rotational tilt of 23.5 degrees but since Moon's tilt is only 1.5 degrees the polar region is smaller.