Can you really see The Great Wall of China up in space?

Answer 1

True, and not true...it depends from where in space...

We are all familiar with the claim that the Great Wall of China is the only man-made object visible from space or from the moon. This is simply wrong. The myth of being able to see the Great Wall from space originated in Richard Halliburton's 1938 book Second Book of Marvels said that the Great Wall of China is the only man-made object visible from the moon.

From a low orbit of the earth, many artificial objects are visible on the earth, such as highways, ships in the sea, railroads, cities, fields of crops, and even some individual buildings. While at a low orbit, the Great Wall of China can certainly be seen from space but it is not unique in that regard.

However, when leaving the earth's orbit and acquiring an altitude of more than a few thousand miles, no man-made objects are visible at all. NASA says, "The Great Wall can barely be seen from the Shuttle, so it would not be possible to see it from the Moon with the naked eye." Furthermore, from the moon, even the continents are barely visible.

NASA astronaut Alan Bean is quoted in Tom Burnam's book More Misinformation...

"The only thing you can see from the moon is a beautiful sphere, mostly white (clouds), some blue (ocean), patches of yellow (deserts), and every once in a while some green vegetation. No man-made object is visible on this scale. In fact, when first leaving earth's orbit and only a few thousand miles away, no man-made object is visible at that point either."

Answer 2

Yes.

Answer 3

yes

Answer 4

yes

Answer 5

yes

Answer 6

yes

Answer 7

yes

Answer 8

yes

Answer 9

yes

Answer 10

yes