Where's Snopes when we need it?

March 12, 2004 12:51 PM

MisconceptionFilter: Apparently, you can't see the Great Wall while orbiting the earth, according to Yang Liwei, China's first astronaut.
posted by antifreez_ (16 comments total)

Obligatory snopes.com link.
posted by John Shaft at 12:56 PM on March 12, 2004

You probably could... in 1966 when the Cultural Revolution and the prior Great Leap Forward all but reduced China to starving farmland with no industrial capacity whatsoever.

But now?

Hell, you can't see the Great Wall from a few miles away because of smog.
posted by linux at 1:05 PM on March 12, 2004

... Maybe he couldn't open his eyes widely enough ....
posted by darren at 1:09 PM on March 12, 2004

Where did this belief come from?
In grade school recall the world maps having the wall on it which was written or noted "as seen from space". Remember classmates wondering how they knew that since the maps printed date was prior to man's travel in space. More reasons why our geography lacks in the US.
posted by thomcatspike at 1:13 PM on March 12, 2004

he couldn't open his eyes widely enough

Wow. BigotFilter?
posted by ao4047 at 1:16 PM on March 12, 2004

Wow. Humorfilter.

Also, a duck's quack does make an echo.
posted by bondcliff at 1:22 PM on March 12, 2004

One thing I'm not comprehending is the quotes from the education officials.

One party official calls the statement "a disadvantage to the real knowledge acquired by our elementary school students."

Is it just me, or does this not make much sense?
posted by antifreez_ at 1:29 PM on March 12, 2004

I often thought this claim was a little dubious because yeah, it's not real wide.
posted by kavasa at 1:40 PM on March 12, 2004

And it's mostly in disrepair and overrun by plant life.

Go home, darren, you've had enough.
posted by scarabic at 1:49 PM on March 12, 2004

I guess there's no real reason to go into space, then. Bummer.
posted by chicobangs at 2:09 PM on March 12, 2004

I always thought that was a bit of hokum anyway. Why would the Great Wall be visible from space if, for example, US Interstate Highways and their equivalents in Europe and elsewhere were not? From above, I'd expect the visual profile of the world's largest roadways to be at least equal to that of the Wall.

Of course, since modern spy satellites can see you individually and practically read the label of your underpants and maybe even be able to tell whether or not you are wearing a fresh pair, I expect pretty much everything is viewable now.
posted by John Smallberries at 2:18 PM on March 12, 2004

maybe even be able to tell whether or not you are wearing a fresh pair

Uh oh.
posted by kirkaracha at 2:29 PM on March 12, 2004

"rook! I can see my house from here!"
posted by keswick at 2:58 PM on March 12, 2004

hey ma! get off that dang roof
posted by Satapher at 3:28 PM on March 12, 2004

What's Really Visible from Space
posted by Orb at 7:16 PM on March 12, 2004

Well, hell, you can also see the Pentagon and the Mall from space, can't you? They're not as long as the Wall but they're wider. Besides, what altitude are we talking about when we say "from space," anyway? Fifty km up? 100? The surface of the Moon?

Whatever. If you can see the Wall and the Pyramids from space, you could definitely see these too.
posted by alumshubby at 6:54 AM on March 13, 2004