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A Myth: Debunked |
A Myth: Debunked
This assignment was designed to give us experience at informative writing on the debunking of a myth.
The Great Wall of China:
The Only Man-Made Object Visible from Space?
It is a widely believed piece of trivia that the Great Wall of China is the only man-made object that is visible from space. The 1500 miles worth of wall are not continuous but are actually broken into several sections that span the hills south of Mongolia. Because the wall was porous, it was ultimately ruled a failure and soon its primary function - resisting Mongol attacks – became obsolete anyway through religious conversion. (Though, I wouldn’t mention that to the thousands of Chinese that died constructing it.)
This myth originated in 1938, before any human had set foot in a rocket, in Richard Halliburton’s book “Second Book of Marvels”, which stated that the Wall is the only man-made object visible from the moon. The mere fact that this statement was made a full 31 years before the first man stepped onto the moon suggests that it is not authentic. The fact that there are two versions with separate locations – the moon and in Earth’s orbit – from which the wall is visible is another indication. However, actual first-hand accounts do the best to debunk this myth. According to astronauts who have been in low Earth orbit, many man-made objects are visible from space, including ships at sea, cities, highways, fields of crops, and even individual buildings. Thus, the Great Wall of China is not in fact the only man-made object visible from space. In addition, NASA has stated that at a distance of several thousand miles from Earth, which is much farther than low Earth orbit, no man-made objects are visible at all. Therefore, the Great Wall of China could not possibly be visible from the moon’s distance of approximately 200,000 miles.
Yet the myth persists, even showing up as a Trivial Pursuit question. Hopefully, this will help to end the common misconception that the Great Wall is the only man-made object visible from space.
This assignment was designed to give us experience at informative writing on the debunking of a myth.
The Great Wall of China:
The Only Man-Made Object Visible from Space?
It is a widely believed piece of trivia that the Great Wall of China is the only man-made object that is visible from space. The 1500 miles worth of wall are not continuous but are actually broken into several sections that span the hills south of Mongolia. Because the wall was porous, it was ultimately ruled a failure and soon its primary function - resisting Mongol attacks – became obsolete anyway through religious conversion. (Though, I wouldn’t mention that to the thousands of Chinese that died constructing it.)
This myth originated in 1938, before any human had set foot in a rocket, in Richard Halliburton’s book “Second Book of Marvels”, which stated that the Wall is the only man-made object visible from the moon. The mere fact that this statement was made a full 31 years before the first man stepped onto the moon suggests that it is not authentic. The fact that there are two versions with separate locations – the moon and in Earth’s orbit – from which the wall is visible is another indication. However, actual first-hand accounts do the best to debunk this myth. According to astronauts who have been in low Earth orbit, many man-made objects are visible from space, including ships at sea, cities, highways, fields of crops, and even individual buildings. Thus, the Great Wall of China is not in fact the only man-made object visible from space. In addition, NASA has stated that at a distance of several thousand miles from Earth, which is much farther than low Earth orbit, no man-made objects are visible at all. Therefore, the Great Wall of China could not possibly be visible from the moon’s distance of approximately 200,000 miles.
Yet the myth persists, even showing up as a Trivial Pursuit question. Hopefully, this will help to end the common misconception that the Great Wall is the only man-made object visible from space.
Source: About.com Urban Legends
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