Great Wall Space Images

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This Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) sub-image covers a 12 x 12 km (7.5 x 7.5 miles) area in Northern Shanxi Province, China, and was acquired January 9, 2001. The low sun angle, and light snow cover highlight a section of the Great Wall, visible as a black line running diagonally through the image from lower left to upper right. The Great Wall is more than 2000 years old and was built over a period of 1000 years. Stretching 7240 km (4500 miles) from Korea to the Gobi Desert, it was first built to protect China from marauders from the north.

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Great Wall of China Viewed from Space

Sections of the wall can be seen readily in radar imagery. This image of sections of the wall in a desert about 435 miles west of Beijing was made by the Spaceborne Imaging Radar flown aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour. The wall appears as an orange line extending the length of the image. Credit: NASA.

Image courtesy NASA/GSFC/MITI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team