Great Wall of China Trivia


Can the Great Wall of China be seen from space?

In short: No.

This rumored can be traced back to the 1700s and resurfaced again with a cartoon by Ripley’s Believe It or Not!’s in the 1930s.

The claim the Great Wall of China is the only man-made object that can be seen from the moon is bunk. Because of the size of the Great Wall and the fact it is similar in color to the land it covers, it would be impossible to see it from the moon. Seeing a single human hair from two miles away is similar to trying to see the Great Wall of China from the moon.

Photo of Great Wall of China from Space. These spaceborne radar images show a segment of the Great Wall of China in a desert region of north-central China, about 700 kilometers (434 miles) west of Beijing. The wall appears as a thin orange band, running from the top to the bottom of the color image on the left.

Photo of Great Wall of China from Space. These spaceborne radar images show a segment of the Great Wall of China in a desert region of north-central China, about 700 kilometers (434 miles) west of Beijing. The wall appears as a thin orange band, running from the top to the bottom of the color image on the left.

NASA, the US space agency, does say the wall is visible from low-earth orbit, but only under perfect weather conditions by someone with remarkable eyesight. Perhaps if someone bought airline tickets for flights that took them directly over the Great Wall, on a particularly clear day, it would be possible to see. However, to spot the Great Wall from space is another matter! It is a highly disputed theory, as you will see below.

The first man on the moon Neil Armstrong said he could not see any man-made objects on earth from the moon.

Some Astronauts have claimed to have seen the Great Wall of China from Space:

  • Astronaut William Pogue thought he saw the Great Wall when posted on Skylab but found he was seeing the Grand Canal of China. Later, he saw the Great Wall of China with binoculars, and said it was not visible without optical help.
  • US Senator (and former astronaut) Jake Garn claimed to see the Great Wall of  China with the naked eye from the space shuttle in the1980s. His claim has been contested by many astronauts.
  • US astronaut Gene Cernan has said the Great Wall of China is visible to the naked eye.
  • Ed Lu, a Science Officer on the International Space Station, says the Great Wall is visible, but less visible than many other objects. You can see it if you know where to look.
  • A Chinese-American astronaut, Leroy Chiao, took a photograph of the Great Wall of China from a space station. A very high-tech camera is needed and the photographer must know where to look.