printf@cix.compulink.co.uk (Ian Stirling) (06/16/91)
#In article <2955@ke4zv.UUCP> gary@ke4zv.UUCP (Gary Coffman) writes: # ##The only manmade structure that can be seen with the naked eye from space, ##the Great Wall of China, has been around for a fair amount of time in #....... # >BZZZT...Wrong. TONS of stuff is visible from LEO. Do you think that >Manhattan or LA suddenly become invisible because you are 120 miles >up? Perhaps the Great Wall is the only object visible from the Moon or >somesuch distance. > BZZZZZT,BZZZZZZT WRONG WRONG WRONG. 8^) The Great Wall of China is the only thing visible from space with "the naked eye." Steve ___________________________________________ kuwait? Mail to either |PLEASE do not send large Printf%cix@ukc.ac.uk |(>20K)mail messages as Printf@cix.compulink.co |I get charged for them. Printf@cix.uucp | one of these may work |
clj@ksr.com (Chris Jones) (06/16/91)
In article <SHAFER.91Jun16095027@skipper.dfrf.nasa.gov>, shafer@skipper (Mary Shafer) writes: > >In article <1991Jun16.125922.7401@demon.co.uk> printf@cix.compulink.co.uk (Ian Stirling) writes: > > #In article <2955@ke4zv.UUCP> gary@ke4zv.UUCP (Gary Coffman) writes: > # > ##The only manmade structure that can be seen with the naked eye from > space, > ##the Great Wall of China, has been around for a fair amount of time > in > #....... > # > >BZZZT...Wrong. TONS of stuff is visible from LEO. Do you think that > >Manhattan or LA suddenly become invisible because you are 120 miles > >up? Perhaps the Great Wall is the only object visible from the Moon > or > >somesuch distance. > > > BZZZZZT,BZZZZZZT WRONG WRONG WRONG. 8^) > > The Great Wall of China is the only thing visible from space > with > "the naked eye." > >You're quite incorrect. I asked Gordon Fullerton (you know, STS-2, etc) >about this and he said that the Great Wall isn't even visible in LEO. >However, quite a few man-made structures are visible from LEO, including >dams, airports, freeways in the deserts, and cities. STS-2 carried Engle and Truly, n'est-ce pas? Fullerton first flew on Faith 7. (I know, it was Gordon Cooper, but we seem to be stuck in one falsehood for every truth mode right now.) -- Chris Jones clj@ksr.com {uunet,harvard,world}!ksr!clj
shafer@skipper.dfrf.nasa.gov (Mary Shafer) (06/16/91)
In article <1991Jun16.125922.7401@demon.co.uk> printf@cix.compulink.co.uk (Ian Stirling) writes: #In article <2955@ke4zv.UUCP> gary@ke4zv.UUCP (Gary Coffman) writes: # ##The only manmade structure that can be seen with the naked eye from space, ##the Great Wall of China, has been around for a fair amount of time in #....... # >BZZZT...Wrong. TONS of stuff is visible from LEO. Do you think that >Manhattan or LA suddenly become invisible because you are 120 miles >up? Perhaps the Great Wall is the only object visible from the Moon or >somesuch distance. > BZZZZZT,BZZZZZZT WRONG WRONG WRONG. 8^) The Great Wall of China is the only thing visible from space with "the naked eye." You're quite incorrect. I asked Gordon Fullerton (you know, STS-2, etc) about this and he said that the Great Wall isn't even visible in LEO. However, quite a few man-made structures are visible from LEO, including dams, airports, freeways in the deserts, and cities. Dave Scott (Apollo 15) once told me that the only man-made thing he could see from the moon was city lights at night and even those were pretty dim. I've been to the Great Wall and it's not very big, it's tan, and the chaparrel grows right up to it. I think you'd be hard-pressed to see it from 40,000 ft, let alone LEO. -- Mary Shafer shafer@skipper.dfrf.nasa.gov ames!skipper.dfrf.nasa.gov!shafer NASA Ames Dryden Flight Research Facility, Edwards, CA Of course I don't speak for NASA "Turn to kill, not to engage." CDR Willie Driscoll
palmer@nntp-server.caltech.edu (David Palmer) (06/17/91)
shafer@skipper.dfrf.nasa.gov (Mary Shafer) writes: >You're quite incorrect. I asked Gordon Fullerton (you know, STS-2, etc) >about this and he said that the Great Wall isn't even visible in LEO. >However, quite a few man-made structures are visible from LEO, including >dams, airports, freeways in the deserts, and cities. >Dave Scott (Apollo 15) once told me that the only man-made thing he >could see from the moon was city lights at night and even those were >pretty dim. Probably the easiest manmade thing to see from space is the Sahara Desert. (This desert is the result of domestic animals under human control, e.g. goats, eating away the vegetation at the periphery, allowing the desert to spread.) -- David Palmer palmer@gap.cco.caltech.edu ...rutgers!cit-vax!gap.cco.caltech.edu!palmer "Operator, get me the number for 911" --Homer Simpson
henry@hutto.UUCP (Henry Melton) (06/17/91)
While looking at an image of the Texas area made by a GEOS weather sat, I noticed a white dot, about three or four pixels wide in Central Texas, just north of Austin. After investigating, it turns out to be the Texas Crushed Stone company's huge pit (just visible from I-35 between Austin and Georgetown). Other than the lakes, it was the only man-made thing visible on the photo.