THE TIMES OF INDIA

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2003

'No sign of Great Wall of China from space'

REUTERS

BEIJING: China's first man in space said the Earth looked beautiful from his
orbiting capsule but he couldn't find the Great Wall.

Yang Liwei returned from space a hero on Thursday, completing an historic
odyssey and fuelling the country's more ambitious dreams of a space station
and space walk.

Popular myth has it that the serpentine Great Wall of China, begun more than
2,000 years ago to keep out marauding nomads, is the only man-made object
visible from space.

"I did not see the Great Wall from space," Yang told state television late
on Thursday.

However, he said the Earth looked "very beautiful".

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