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Now that I think about it, it might actually be possible to see from space, indirectly. If it casts a shadow that is really big (e.g. 100m wide) when the sun is

Now that I think about it, it might actually be possible to see from space, indirectly. If it casts a shadow that is really big (e.g. 100m wide) when the sun is low then you could potentially see that, even though you don't see the object directly. The problem I suppose is that just as that happens, you also lose a lot of light. I guess my second question would then be: to properly see something from space in the not-just-poetic-way-of-describing-something-as-very-big, how large does it need to be?

danbruc 5y ago
My interpretation is that can-be-seen-from-space means can be seen with the naked eye from the ISS or something else in low Earth orbit. In this case you will probably not see the actual conveyor belt but different surface colors on both sides of the conveyor belt caused by dust being blown mostly in the predominant wind direction. Looking at it in Google Maps [1] shows that there is a noticeable color change extending between about 100 m and 2000 m to the south west. [1] https://goo.gl/maps/R97QZpBabs9mLh3d6 https://goo.gl/maps/R97QZpBabs9mLh3d6