19 April 2011

Moon and The Great China Wall

Many of you might have read somewhere that the only man-made thing that can be seen from Moon on Earth is the Great Wall of China. Didn't you? But did you know it is purely false? Yes it is. None of the Apollo travelers who were on moon reported such a thing. Other than the Apollo travelers, nobody has ever been to moon. Then who on earth did spread such a 'fact'? It was one Richard Halliburton. The funny thing is, first moon-landing happened on 1969 and Halliburton had died in 1939! Don't think that Halliburton was a lying silly crack. He is a legendary American adventurer and author.(Read more about him here) In his 'Second Book of Marvels' he says "Astronomers say that the Great Wall of China is the only man-made thing on our planet visible to the human eye from the moon". He doesn't say which astronomer told him so. Anyway that is the source of such a widely spread misconception.
 
The above picture is a satellite image of the Great Wall. Can you distinguish it from the surroundings? And when you know Moon is ten times farther than an artificial satellite from Earth, how is it possible to see The Great Wall from Moon? Should I talk more now?

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