Chinese lunar scientist disputes the claim, saying site was within moon’s southern hemisphere but not in the polar region. Others agree, but one notes that landing a rover close the south pole ‘is already a major achievement’.
  • TheOneCurly@lemmy.theonecurly.pageEnglish
    91·
    11 months ago

    Maybe China’s space program could stop crashing rockets into populated areas before making minor nitpicks about other people’s achievements.

    • octoperson@sh.itjust.works
      9·
      11 months ago

      It’s more a semantic argument than anything else. They’re not disputing where the probe landed, but what counts as the polar region on the moon. India says the probe is far enough south that it would be considered in the polar regions if it was on earth. The Chinese guy says nuh-uhh, the moon’s axis is less tilted than earth so it’s polar region is smaller. I think he’s got a point, but it’s kind of a boring one.

    • NOT_RICK@lemmy.worldEnglish
      4·
      11 months ago

      He’s not denying the landing, he’s arguing that 69° S latitude doesn’t qualify as the South Pole. According to the article NASA defines the South Pole region as anything between 80 and 90 degrees.