10 September 2011

Photo of the Twin Towers during the 9/11 attacks taken from the International Space Station

During 9/11 there was only one American not on planet Earth - Frank Culbertson.

He was 220 miles above Earth, aboard the International Space Station (ISS), which happened to pass over New York after the Twin Towers were hit by the 2 hijacked planes. When he learnt of the attacks, he quickly moved around the station to find a window that would give him a view of New York, grabbed the nearest camera, and took photos.

The next day, as a public message, he wrote:

It's horrible to see smoke pouring from wounds in your own country from such a fantastic vantage point. The dichotomy of being on a spacecraft dedicated to improving life on the Earth and watching life being destroyed by such wilful, terrible acts is jolting to the psyche, no matter who you are. The smoke seemed to have an odd bloom to it at the base of the column that was streaming south of the city. I believe we were looking at NY around the time of, or shortly after, the collapse of the second tower. How horrible…


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