17 Aug 08 See It From Space

The Great Wall of China is the only man made structure visible from space.

Another lot of old tosh I’m afraid! There are several variations on this folkloric statement, and they’re all quantifiably false. Astronauts can spot the Great Wall from low-Earth orbit, along with plenty of other things like the Giza pyramids and even airport runways. But they can’t see the Wall from the Moon.

Tags: great wall of china, low orbit, outer space, space the final frontier, the moon