Chandrayaan 2: Impressed with the recent space mission- Chandrayaan 2, China recently congratulated India! The neighbouring country also expressed its desire to work with New Delhi for exploration of outer space as both the countries stepped up their space programmes including plans to set up their own space stations, according to a PTI report. While congratulating India, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a media briefing that China noted the relevant reports and welcomes the successful launch of this probe by India. The outer space exploration including the moon, is the common cause of all human beings, she said, adding that they should contribute to the welfare of all people. She further claimed that China is committed to the peaceful use of outer space and is also actively engaged in international communication and cooperation on the issue.
According to China’s lunar exploration programme chief Wu Weiren, China is not in competition with any other country in planning its space missions. At present, the country is actively pursuing its own moon mission. To explore the moon, international efforts made by countries including India, Israel and the US- which is likely to send its astronauts back to the moon within five years period, will be motivating and pressuring China’s lunar probe missions to further develop, Wu said. According to the programme chief, the international trend will not play a decisive role in China’s planning on its lunar missions and also, the country is not going to compete with any other nation over the matter. Space projects of China have always been carried out in an independent and controllable fashion, Wu added. However, according to the report, space scientists in China have kept a close watch on India’s space programme especially after India sent Mangalyaan probe to Mars in the year 2013 successfully, becoming the first-ever country to do so.
In January 2019, Chang’e-4 spacecraft of China created history when it made the first-ever soft landing on the moon’s far side. Following this, the rover Yutu-2 rolled off the lander in order to explore its surroundings. Meanwhile, India aimed to explore the South Pole of the Moon which so far, has not been explored. Plans have been announced by China to explore South Pole with its later unmanned missions to the moon in the coming years, the report said.
On Monday, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched its second lunar mission Chandrayaan-2 on board its powerful rocket GSLV-MkIII-M1 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota. The space mission aims to explore the unchartered South Pole of the celestial body by landing a rover.
