There is just one problem. Astronauts who have actually traveled into space say the story is largely a myth.
Astronauts Struggle to See the Great Wall
One of the strongest pieces of evidence came from China’s first astronaut, Yang Liwei.
Other astronauts have had similar difficulties.
French astronaut Thomas Pesquet went even further while aboard the International Space Station in 2021. He explained that astronauts cannot simply look through the window and easily pick out the wall. Instead, he used geographical landmarks to determine approximately where it should be and photographed the area with an extremely powerful 1,150 mm lens. The station was orbiting roughly 400 kilometers above Earth at the time.
Why Is the Great Wall So Difficult to See?
The real problem is its width and its surroundings.
NASA explains that the materials used to build sections of the wall often have colors and textures similar to the nearby landscape. That means the structure doesn’t create the dramatic contrast that would make it stand out easily from orbit.
Think of drawing a very long but extremely thin line across a giant photograph using almost the same color as the background. The line might stretch a considerable distance, but that does not mean it would be easy to find.
But It Has Been Photographed From Space
Saying the Great Wall cannot normally be seen with the naked eye doesn’t mean it has never been photographed from space.
NASA astronaut Leroy Chiao captured images from the International Space Station that were later determined to show sections of the Great Wall in Inner Mongolia. One photograph taken on November 24, 2004, used a 180 mm lens and became what NASA described as apparently the first verifiable photograph of the wall from low Earth orbit.
