Heard a buddy claim the Great Wall of China is the only manmade thing visible from space. That can't be right, can it?

I was hanging out at a barbecue last weekend and my friend Dan swore up and down that astronauts can see the Great Wall from the moon with just their eyeballs. I kinda laughed it off but then he doubled down and said he read it in a book from school. But I remember hearing somewhere that it's actually a myth because the wall is too narrow and blends in with the terrain. Supposedly the whole thing started with a guy in the 1700s or something before anyone even flew. Now I'm wondering if it's one of those lies that got repeated so often people just believed it. Has anyone here actually looked into where that claim came from or talked to someone who's been to space? I'd love to know if there's any real evidence one way or the other.

3 comments

3 Comments

foster.jordan1mo ago

Okay but hold on, I gotta push back on this a little. I remember seeing some interview with a former astronaut years ago and he straight up said he could see the Great Wall from low Earth orbit, not the moon obviously but still from space. The whole "narrow and blends in" argument makes sense on paper but doesn't account for how the wall follows ridgelines for hundreds of miles in a row. Like if you're looking at the Himalayas from a plane you can pick out the main ridge even though it's just rock and snow, right? Plus there's the shadow factor at certain times of day. I bet if you were in a clear orbit with the sun at the right angle that wall would pop out just like any long line on the ground.

nelson.vera1mo ago

I can barely spot my car keys let alone a wall in orbit!

caseythompson1mo ago

...and that's exactly how that stuff spreads. People hear something in school or from a "credible" friend and it just becomes fact in their head. @nelson.vera I think you hit on something with the car keys thing though. It's like how everyone swears they can see the pyramids from orbit but it's actually the glowing city lights at night that stand out, not the structures themselves. The Great Wall thing is just one of those myths that won't die because it sounds cool and nobody bothers to check. I've seen actual astronaut interviews where they flat out say you can't see it without binoculars, if at all.