If the Great Wall of China is the only man-made structure that can be seen from space?

Question

Why is it that other structures can't seen? Is it because the Great Wall is high in the mountains?

Also, I've never seen any pictures from outer space that it even showed up on.

Answer 1

Actually, the myth is that the Great Wall can be seen from the Moon, which is of course ridiculous, but even from Earth orbit it cannot be seen, at least with the naked eye. If that were true then super highways, which are much wider than the Wall, particularly including their easements, would also be visible, and nobody has ever made that claim, at least not that I am aware of.

Of course with a telescope or a sufficiently powerful camera one could certainly see the Wall, but so what. After all, those Google Earth pictures are taken with cameras in orbiting satellites, and I've seen pictures where the resolution was good enough to pick out cars, or even smaller objects. By that standard, lots of man-made structures can be seen from space.

So it all depends on what you mean by "from space" and "seen." If by "from space" you mean at least low Earth orbit (approx. 120-1200 miles up), and by "seen" you mean with the naked eye, then there simply are no man-made structures visible, period.

Answer 2

Some say the Great Wall Of China can be seen "from space", but that's a myth. Even from low orbit. Many man-made artifacts can be seen from low orbit (or at least their location can be seen because the patterns they create are regular, unlike natural features). Go to Google Earth, look at some cities or major highways, then pan outward and see what the eye elevation is when you lose sight of the object, or lose sight of any sign that it's there.

Answer 3

I think you can see a lot from space. It just depends on the resolution of the camera. For example, I'm pretty certain I've seen pictures of the Egyptian pyramids from space. Photos of the "Earth at Night" show all sorts of lights (manmade) etc.

Answer 4

it's a misconception that only the Great Wall can be seen by the naked eye from space.........just to start, the Panama and Suez Canals are man made.....

and of course, with cameras EVERTHING can be seen......go to googlespace and download a picture of your backyard....!!!

Answer 5

http://www.spacedaily.com/news/china-05zv.html

The website answers the questions to the myth
some say it can be seen others say it can
if it can then only segments of it can be seen
but you wouldn't know that its the wall

Answer 6

I google-earthed it, at the most distant setting, so i suppose it's true, you can see it. But with the naken eye, that's something only the astronauts can tell us.

Answer 7

It's so extensive, runs for thousands of miles.

Answer 8

You can also see the lights from Las Vegus....