Sailing along Rotterdam

Postcard NL-2675928 from the Netherlands shows Euromast, an observation tower in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Designed by Hugh Maaskant and constructed between 1958 and 1960, it was specially built for the 1960 Floriade. It has a "crow's nest" observation platform and a restaurant at 96 meters or 315 feet above-ground. Euromast was originally 101 meters or 331 feet in height. When the Space Tower was added on top of the building in 1970, it added an additional 85 meters or 279 feet in height. At 186 meters or 610 feet, Euromast is the tallest building in Rotterdam, the second-largest city in the Netherlands. In comparison, the Stratosphere Tower in Las Vegas stands at 350.2 meters or 1,149 feet. Euromast became a listed monument in 2010.

Earth Observation from Space

Fifty five years ago, the U.S. satellite Explorer VI was launched by a Thor DM-18 Able III rocket from Cape Canaveral's LC-17A site in Florida on August 7, 1959.  It took the first black-and-white photo of the planet Earth from space, showing a portion of the ocean and the cloud cover over the Central Pacific Ocean. It started an era of the earth observation from space.

Postcard US-1893434 to Russia was one of the six limited edition IKONOS Collector cards from Space Imaging 2003 International Image Festival. It shows the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour on the northern bank of the Moskva River, a few blocks southwest of the Kremlin, in Moscow, Russia. By comparing the image card with the recent satellite image from the same area on Google Maps, you can find out those changes in the area over the past 10 years.