The Great Wall

stargazer0105 · Post by **stargazer0105** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 12:13 am

Found an interesting article on space.com some of you might enjoy.

Last American on Moon Contradicts First Chinese in Space: Great Wall Mystery Continues
By Associated Press
posted: 07:40 am ET
14 March 2004

SINGAPORE (AP) -- The Great Wall of China is visible from space, the last man to walk on the moon told a Singapore newspaper, contradicting China's first spaceman, who said he couldn't spot the giant fortification.

Apollo 17 astronaut Gene Cernan -- who walked on the moon in December 1972 -- told the Straits Times newspaper he viewed China's most famous monument from space. He said it's a matter of having good eyes and knowing where to look.

"At Earth orbit of 160 kilometers (100 miles) to 320 kilometers (200 miles) high, the Great Wall is indeed visible to the naked eye," Cernan was quoted as saying.

For decades, the Chinese have said the wall was visible from space, with elementary-school textbooks proclaiming that the structure can be seen by the naked eye of an orbiting cosmonaut.

But the myth was shattered when Chinese astronaut Yang Liwei returned from space last year and said could not see the Great Wall while in orbit.

China's Education Ministry has ordered publishers to stop printing the "falsehood" that the Wall can be seen from space, the Beijing Times newspaper said Friday.

The Straits Times interviewed Cernan last month when he visited Singapore for an Asian Aerospace show. It printed the interview Sunday after hearing about Beijing's order to revise the textbooks.

Cernan's comments also contradict the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Its Web site says although many manmade objects can be seen from space without magnification, China's Great Wall is not among them.

The wall stretches thousands of kilometers (miles) across northern China, but is only a few meters (yards) wide. It is also made from native materials that match the color of the surrounding landscape, NASA's Web site says.

Cernan's comments in Singapore -- with 75 percent of its population ethnic Chinese _ may show he has heightened diplomatic senses along with acute vision. He also told the newspaper Singapore could be seen from space.

The tiny diamond-shaped island off the southern tip of Malaysia is too small to appear on many world maps.

meg · Post by **meg** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 4:59 pm

omg! gene cernan is the COOLEST!!!

stargazer0105 · Post by **stargazer0105** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 8:07 pm

Have you ever read his book? It's really good.

meg · Post by **meg** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 8:10 pm

nope, but hes one cool dude.

stargazer0105 · Post by **stargazer0105** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 8:13 pm

It's called Last Man on the Moon. I would definitely recommend it.

meg · Post by **meg** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 8:15 pm

thnx.

stargazer0105 · Post by **stargazer0105** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 8:16 pm

You do realize that we have like 2 convos going on right now meg. You're talking to me on aim and we've got a seperate convo going here.

meg · Post by **meg** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 8:21 pm

that's cause...we're cool. *adjusts the tape on her glasses*

stargazer0105 · Post by **stargazer0105** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 8:23 pm

you bet we are. *adjusts pocket protector*

meg · Post by **meg** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 8:36 pm

mine is leather...

stargazer0105 · Post by **stargazer0105** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 8:38 pm

That's great. I loved that documentary.