Six man-made structures you can see from space

The International Space Station (ISS) is hurtling through space about 250 miles above the surface of Earth

Over the past several millennia, humans have built impressive structures such as massive pyramids, great walls, sprawling cities and much more.



From the International Space Station (ISS), hurtling through the space about 250 miles above the surface of Earth, our houses, roads, and buildings all disappear. Even some of our biggest constructions can get swallowed up in the swirls of blue, white, and green that characterise our planet.



However, there are some structures that, even 250 miles away, are visible from the ISS. We take a look at the six structures that can be seen from space.



The Great Pyramids of Giza

In this photo taken by NASA, you can actually see a pair of small triangular shadows at the centre. Those shadows and the small speck right below them are actually some of the most mind-blowing constructions ever built by humans. They are three of the most well-known pyramids built by the ancient Egyptians: the Pyramids of Giza. The largest of the three is nearly 500 feet tall but it just looks like a tiny smudge in the Egyptian desert when viewed from space.

PHOTO: NASA

City lights at night

At night, light pollution from cities drowns out stars in the sky. But if you look down on a few of these cities from space, artificial lights create a constellation of their own, illuminating the area all around them.

PHOTO: NASA

The Kennecott Copper Mine

The Kennecott Copper Mine, southwest of Salt Lake City in Utah is one of the largest open-pit mines in the world. It measures about 2.5 miles across and it is about 4,000 feet deep. Mining first began there in the late nineteenth century to extract gold, silver, and lead deposits.

PHOTO: NASA

Bridges

Bridges that stretch across thousands of feet of water and land carrying millions of vehicles have evolved from being small and weak to being carefully engineered concrete structures.  Some of these giant bridges can be spotted all the way from space. This picture of bridges was taken by astronaut Christ Hadfield as the ISS orbited above the Bay Area.

PHOTO: NASA

The Palm Islands at Dubai

The Palm Islands are a collection of man-made islands along the coast of Dubai. To build these islands, workers dredge sand from the bottom of the Persian Gulf, and then spray it to create shapes that stand out in the dark water. Some of the islands are constructed to resemble palm trees. The island at the top of this photo is still under construction and is being fashioned on the lines of a world map.

PHOTO: NASA

The Greenhouses at Almería

In the Almería Province of southeastern Spain, there is a vast sea of greenhouses that can be seen from space. They cover over 64,000 acres of land. Millions of tonnes of fruits and vegetables are grown in the greenhouses to be exported to other parts of the world.

PHOTO: NASA

 

This article originally appeared on the World Economic Forum.