I have heard that the Wall is the only man made objecct visible from Earth
2007-02-15 20:56:20 · 11 answers · asked by robert g 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
It is one of the greatest urban myths that astronauts can see the Great Wall of China from the surface of the Moon. They cannot.
Astronaut Michael Collins in his book Liftoff (1988) wrote that there is a false notion that the Great Wall of China is visible from the Moon. Collins orbited the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969.
Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong has stated many times that the Great Wall is "definitely not visible from the Moon". Apollo 8 and 13 astronaut Jim Lovell made very careful observations and says that "the claim is absurd". Apollo 15 astronaut Jim Irwin has said that seeing the Great Wall from the Moon "is out of the question".
Fellow Astronaut William Pogue orbited the Earth in the Skylab Space Station in 1973 to 1974. The altitude was about 300 miles (482.8 kilometres) above Earth. Pogue wrote in his book, How do you go to the bathroom in Space? (1991) that he could see the Great Wall of China from the space station, but he needed binoculars to do so.
Astronaut Jay Apt orbited the Earth a total of 562 times on four Space Shuttle missions from 1991 to 1996. Apt wrote in the November, 1996 National Geographic: "We look for the Great Wall of China. Although we can see things as small as airport runways, the Great Wall seems to be made largely of materials that have the same color as the surrounding soil. Despite persistent stories that it can be seen from the Moon, the Great Wall is almost invisible from only 180 miles up!"
The Great Wall of China is only about 20 feet (about 6 metres) in width. That is not a big target to see from the Moon - an average of 238,855 miles (384,400 kms) away!
2007-02-15 21:01:03 · answer #1 · answered by BARROWMAN 6 · 7⤊ 4⤋
Ripley's Believe It or Not! cartoon from May 1932 makes the claim that the wall is "the mightiest work of man, the only one that would be visible to the human eye from the moon" and Richard Halliburton's 1938 book Second Book of Marvels makes a similar claim.
Not surprisingly, no lunar astronaut has ever claimed he could see the Great Wall from the moon.
2007-02-15 22:00:56 · answer #2 · answered by gangadharan nair 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. that's a slender gray wall on a grey mountain history. maximum of that's in ruins and would't additionally be considered from the Earth on no account suggestions the moon. The bits anyone visits close to Beijing have been equipped interior the Eighties.
2016-12-17 11:15:03 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, only from Space. Apparently even the continents are difficult to make out from the moon.
Lets face it ... not going to be seeing much from 293,000 miles away : )
Where as the Space Shuttle orbits at only 200 miles from the earths surface in space ... much easier to see defined objects on the surface of earth. "Space" starts only 60 miles from the earths surface, altho due to drag the shuttle orbits further out ... However, man-made objects CAN be seen from "Space".
2007-02-15 20:58:57 · answer #4 · answered by brianthesnailuk2002 6 · 4⤊ 2⤋
No, there is no one there to see it.
2007-02-15 21:01:00 · answer #5 · answered by Max 6 · 0⤊ 3⤋
yes i saw it with both Buzz Alrdrun and Neil Armstrong x
2007-02-15 21:00:48 · answer #6 · answered by scotgal 4 · 0⤊ 3⤋
no! it cannot be seen except for .. when you use a telescope
2007-02-15 21:18:38 · answer #7 · answered by siddarth k 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yep, the last time I was there I saw it clearly!
2007-02-15 20:59:02 · answer #8 · answered by Sam G 4 · 3⤊ 3⤋
No it cannot. It can however be viewed from the large studio where the "moon landings" where filmed.
2007-02-15 20:59:53 · answer #9 · answered by daughters_a_wookie 4 · 1⤊ 6⤋
Not from the moon no, but it can apparently been be seen from space. (Dunno if that's true).
2007-02-15 21:07:01 · answer #10 · answered by Hello Dave 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋