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NASA remembered the September 11 terrorist attacks by sharing an incredible photo taken by the only US astronaut on the International Space Station in 2001.
This week marks the 17th anniversary of the hijacking of four commercial aircraft in the United States, including two in the World Trade Center in New York, one in the Pentagon in Washington and one in Pennsylvania, killing nearly 3,000. injuring more than 6,000 others.
The image, taken by Station Commander Frank Culbertson of Expedition 3 on the morning of September 11, 2001, shows a large plume of smoke drifting across Manhattan from the ground.
Commander Culbertson took the picture moments after American Airlines Flight 11 and Flight 175 from United Airlines crashed into the North and South towers of the World Trade Center.
NASA posted the photo on its website with Commander Culbertson sending a message of support to the victims and their families.
"Our prayers and thoughts are with all people there and everywhere else," he said.
# Never forget those who are lost #September 11th. Here is a recent view of NYC from @Astro_Ricky sure @Space station. We remember: https://t.co/SCDUmzCUHk pic.twitter.com/BpUTM1h2RU
– NASA (@NASA) September 11, 2018
Commander Culbertson was the only American astronaut on the space station at the time of the attack and stated that he had just completed usual morning tasks before receiving a phone call from a flight surgeon at about the attack.
"I was stunned and horrified," he said.
"My first thought was that it was not a real conversation, that I was still listening to one of my Tom Clancy tapes.
Commander Culbertson described feeling completely isolated by watching the destruction from space through the lens of his camera.
"The smoke seemed to have a strange bloom at the base of the column that ran south of the city," he said.
"I scrolled the camera all the way down the east coast to see if I could see smoke around Washington or anywhere else, but nothing was visible."
Commander Culbertson said that seeing "wounds in your own country from such a fantastic perspective" was horrible.
"The dichotomy of being on a spaceship dedicated to improving life on Earth and the destruction of life by such deliberate and terrible acts shakes the psyche, no matter who you are," he said.
"And knowing that everything will be different when we launch when we land is a little disconcerting.
"In addition to the emotional impact of our country's attacked and thousands of our citizens and perhaps a few friends killed, the most damning feeling of being where I am is that of isolation."
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