Note that the road and railroad are also visible

Great Wall visible in space photo
By Francis Markus
BBC News, Shanghai



A photograph taken from space appears to confirm that China's Great Wall
can be seen with the naked eye after all.
China's schoolchildren have long been taught that the ancient
fortification is one of the only man-made structures that can be picked
out from orbit.

However, last year, China's first man in space disappointed the nation
when he said he had failed to spot it.

Now, an official newspaper has run a picture taken by a Chinese-American
astronaut showing the wall.

Leroy Chiao took what the state-run China Daily newspaper says is the
first photographic evidence using commercially available equipment.

It will allow education officials to breathe more easily, after fretting
over whether to change the school textbooks.

Blunted pride

In the picture, which is plastered over the front page, the wall is
highlighted in orange to distinguish it from a nearby road and railway.


The picture sent back by Mr Chiao, who is currently aboard the
International Space Station, was authenticated by a leading Chinese
expert.
This is just as well, because the astronaut, being interviewed by
satellite and e-mail, said he himself was not actually sure he had really
captured the wall.

He is going to try to snap it again when he next passes over China but he
will have to be quick because he is orbiting at a speed of 8km (five
miles) a second.

China's pride may be a bit blunted, because lots of other things such as
Egypt's pyramids and even various airports can be seen, too.

But it can take some comfort in the fact that this apparent breakthrough
was at least made by an astronaut of Chinese descent.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/h...ic/4459311.stm

Published: 2005/04/19 07:36:30 GMT

--------------------------------

P.S. Did you notice that "one of the only"? Golly, how the BBC has
fallen...

"A photograph taken from space appears to confirm that China's Great
Wall can be seen with the naked eye after all. "

Unless this particular camera had been calibrated to match the behavior
of the human eye, all this proves is that this particular camera can
image the Great Wall.

Having a static image also helps, you can look at it until the feature
pops out. If you were looking for the Wall from orbit your would have a
couple of minutes at best to find it. I don't think photography really
proves anything in this case.