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The Old Fox's Library · Episode 10
Can You See the Great Wall from Space?
People claimed the Great Wall of China could be seen from the Moon long before anyone went there. The Old Fox looks at what astronauts actually saw, from Yang Liwei to a zoom-lens photo from the space station, and why long isn't the same as visible.
- A survey by China's State Administration of Cultural Heritage, announced in 2012, put the total length of all sections of the Great Wall at 21,196 km (Live Science; CBC News).
- The English antiquary William Stukeley wrote in 1754 that the Chinese wall might be seen from the Moon, and a 1932 Ripley's Believe It or Not! cartoon called it the only work of man visible from the Moon (New World Encyclopedia; Scientific American).
- The Moon is about a quarter of a million miles away; Neil Armstrong said he could see continents and clouds but no man-made structures from there (Scientific American; NASA).
- Even from Earth orbit the wall is difficult or impossible to see without powerful lenses, because it is narrow and similar in colour to the land around it (NASA; Scientific American).
- China's first astronaut, Yang Liwei, said after his 2003 flight that he had not seen the wall; in 2004 NASA astronaut Leroy Chiao photographed it from the International Space Station with a zoom lens, though he wasn't sure at first what he had captured (Al Jazeera; Scientific American; NASA).
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What the fox said
Pull up a chair. Tonight's page: can you see the Great Wall of China from space?
The Great Wall. Stone, brick and earth, snaking over the mountains of northern China.
A survey in 2012 put all its sections together at over 21,000 kilometres. Long. Very long.
So surely you can see it from space? Even from the Moon?
That claim is older than spaceflight. In 1754, an English antiquary, William Stukeley, wrote that it might be seen from the Moon.
In 1932, a Ripley's Believe It or Not cartoon called it the only work of man you could see from the Moon.
The Moon is about 250,000 miles away. From there, astronauts saw oceans, clouds and continents. No walls.
Even from orbit, a few hundred miles up, it's hard. The wall is narrow, and much the same colour as the land around it.
In 2003, China's first astronaut, Yang Liwei, came home and said he hadn't seen it.
A year later, an American astronaut on the space station photographed it with a zoom lens. Even he wasn't sure, at first, what he'd caught.
Astronauts say roads, airports, and city lights at night are far easier to spot.
One to keep: the Great Wall is long, not wide. Being big isn't the same as being seen.
Close the book. Keep your nose to the wind.
Sources
- A survey by China's State Administration of Cultural Heritage, announced in 2012, put the total length of all sections of the Great Wall at 21,196 km (Live Science; CBC News).
- The English antiquary William Stukeley wrote in 1754 that the Chinese wall might be seen from the Moon, and a 1932 Ripley's Believe It or Not! cartoon called it the only work of man visible from the Moon (New World Encyclopedia; Scientific American).
- The Moon is about a quarter of a million miles away; Neil Armstrong said he could see continents and clouds but no man-made structures from there (Scientific American; NASA).
- Even from Earth orbit the wall is difficult or impossible to see without powerful lenses, because it is narrow and similar in colour to the land around it (NASA; Scientific American).
- China's first astronaut, Yang Liwei, said after his 2003 flight that he had not seen the wall; in 2004 NASA astronaut Leroy Chiao photographed it from the International Space Station with a zoom lens, though he wasn't sure at first what he had captured (Al Jazeera; Scientific American; NASA).
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