NASA shares what 9/11 attacks on Twin Towers looked like from space; 'jolting to psyche'

The date of September 11 this year marked the 21st anniversary of the dastardly attacks that were carried out by Al-Qaeda terrorists on the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York. In remembrance of the horrific event, NASA has shared a picture of the demolition of the buildings that were visible even from space. 

These pictures were taken by NASA astronaut Frank Culbertson, who was commander of Expedition 3 aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and was the only American in the crew. When the planes were rammed into the Twin Towers, the space station was crossing New York City, which gave Culbertson the opportunity to document the event right after it occurred. 

"The world changed today. What I say or do is very minor compared to the significance of what happened to our country today when it was attacked”, the astronaut wrote in a public letter released the next day.

“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 willful, terrible acts is jolting to the psyche, no matter who you are."

The deadly 9/11 attacks

To carry out the attacks on the Twin Towers, the Al-Quaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial aircraft. Out of the four, two crashed into floors 93 and 99 of the North and the South tower at 6:16 pm IST (8:46 am EST) and 6:33 pm IST (9:03 am EST) respectively. Estimates suggest that 2,977 people from 93 countries were killed in the attacks out of which 2,753 were in the towers. On the other hand, 184 lost their lives due to the plane that crashed into the Pentagon whereas 40 were killed in the fourth plane crash into a rural field in Pennsylvania. 

To honour those who lost their lives, NASA flew nearly 6,000 4-by-6 inch flags on Endeavour's flight during the STS-108 mission which took off in December that year. The same flags were later handed over to the relatives of the victims.