Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from January, 2023

3193 - Sunnyvale, California, USA

A great shot of NASA's space shuttle Discovery. This particular shot was taken for mission STS-95 on 29 October 1998.  Discovery was the third of the five operational shuttles, or orbiters, to be built. Between its first mission (STS-41-D on 30 August 1984) to its final mission (STS-133 on 24 February 2011) it was launched 39 times, the most of all five shuttles. It was the first of the three operational shuttles to be retired and is on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.  Over the course of its life, Discovery flew 238 million kilometers; 5830 orbits; and spent 365 days in orbit over 27 years. In 1985 it was launched four times. 

3192 - Changhua, Taiwan Province, Taiwan

The Queen's Head Rock is a natural formation and is named so because...well, just look at the photo. It took over 4000 years to form. The neck is 1.25 meters and is weathering at a rate of 20-50 millimeters a year. 

3191 - Windsor, Ontario, Canada

Windsor is a city of 230 000 and is located across the Detroit River from Detroit, Michigan. In fact, the two cities are connected by the Ambassador Bridge, the busies commercial crossing on the Canada-United States border. About 25% (US$13 billion) of all merchandise traded between Canada and the United States crosses the Ambassador Bridge. It opened in 1929. The Canadian and American governments recently approved the construction of a new international crossing bridge further downriver from the Ambassador Bridge. It will be operated by the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority and was named in honour of Gordie Howe, one of the greatest players in National Hockey League history. Howe spent 25 of his 26 National Hockey League seasons playing for the Detroit Red Wings. Construction on the new bridge is expected to be completed in 2024. 

3190 - Chilaw, North Western Province, Sri Lanka

Very excited to receive my first postcard from Sri Lanka. The sender has sent a tourist card of Galle Fort  ගාලු කොටුව , which is located in the south of Sri Lanka.  Galle is a former Portuguese fort that was built in 1588. The Dutch fortified it 1649. It is a historical, archaeological, and architectural heritage monument and is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Today Galle has a multicultural and multi-religious population. Galle (the city) has a population of 113 000 people and has developed around the fort area. 

3189 - Shanghai, China

Since racing cars are the focus of this cars, let's have a look at the Chinese Grand Prix  中国大奖赛.  It was first held in 2004 and is at the Shanghai International Circuit  上海国际赛车场 . The circuit is 5.451 km long and racers have to go around it 56 time to complete the 305.066 km race. The race was suspended from 2020-2023 due to Covid-19, but will not start up again on the Formula One World Championship until 2025.  Rubens Barrichello of Brazil won the first race in 2004 driving a Ferrari. He completed the race in a time of 1:34:012. Jenson Button of Great Britain was second, and Kimi Räikkönen of Finland was third.  Lewis Hamilton has the most wins at the Chinese Grand Prix with six wins (2008, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019), and Mercedes constructors have won six as well (2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019).  When first built the Shanghai International Circuit cost US$240 million, the most expensive on the Formula One World Championship Tour until 2009 when Abu Dhabi built one at the