September 11 Attack Filmed From Space By NASA Astronaut Frank Culbertson (VIDEO)

NASA has released footage shot from space during the September 11 attacks on New York's World Trade Center.

On the morning of the attack, American Frank Culbertson was aboard the International Space Station with two Russian cosmonauts. As they orbited the earth, they passed over New York City and captured heart-rending video of a massive smoke plume issuing from downtown Manhattan.

Culbertson, who recently sat down with NASA for an interview to commemorate the 10th anniversary of 9/11, can still recall his initial reaction to the news. He said he had been reading a Tom Clancy novel at the time, and he felt as if he had been sucked into the book. "But as we listened, and events were described to us by our flight surgeon and then by the capcoms, it became very real," Culbertson noted. "Once I saw it out the window, we took video as the second tower was collapsing. I didn't know exactly what was happening, but I knew it was really bad because there was a big cloud of debris covering Manhattan. That's when it really became painful because it was like seeing a wound in the side of your country."

"The smoke seemed to have an odd bloom to it at the base of the column that was streaming south of the city," Culbertson described the sight, according to a NASA press release.

Not long after witnessing the plume from the attack, Culbertson had this to say, per NASA:

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.

To watch Frank Culbertson's video of the event, as well hear his recent thoughts on witnessing the aftermath from his unique vantage point, see the video (below).

What follows is raw footage of New York, as seen from the International Space Station on September 11. The video also shows some behind-the-scenes footage from inside the ISS on that day and includes a lengthier present-day interview with Culbertson.

Comments

[jaredbrain]

01:03 AM on 09/12/2011

I'm sure this looks very neat, but I won't be watching a minute of ads for it thanks.

[David Flint]

03:56 PM on 09/11/2011

I wonder what pakistan looks like from space now, or Iraq looked like during shock and awe

[LeftLeanWing]

08:22 PM on 09/11/2011

Iraq... looked like Microwave Popcorn Time......at Orville's House.

[americaisracist]

12:07 PM on 09/11/2011

cool.

[phoffman]

12:05 PM on 09/09/2011

My apartment at the time was about 6 miles south as the crow flies, just south of Prospect Park, we had paper from the WTC falling on our street. My neighbor had a memo from Cantor Fitzgerald land on her lawn. Eerie in this image you can see how the dust and debris carried that far.

[Arashi]

11:25 AM on 09/09/2011

Hey, I can see my house! No, wait, that's Russia.

[RedneckSamurai]

08:03 AM on 09/09/2011

I can't wait to see the footage of 9/11 taken from 'The Underground Lair of the Crab People'.

[jaredbrain]

01:18 AM on 09/12/2011

The Miracle On the Hudson, live via Goosecam!

[wdc39]

01:06 AM on 09/09/2011

Our second "Day Of Infamy". Our third one was in November 2008.

[ryajamsny]

02:50 PM on 09/10/2011

I believe the site you are looking for is foxnews.com. Get lost.

[wdc39]

07:55 PM on 09/10/2011

Nope. Not gonna get lost. This is the site I intended to be on. Making that statement on foxnews.com would be preaching to the choir. Makes a better impact here.

[Ed Baggett]

10:33 PM on 09/08/2011

Tonight's news after the president's speech, is about a possible attack by terrorists again. I wonder if they have a "dirty atomic bomb" or a shoulder fired missle at an aircraft.....that always scares me !

[mddunnington]

08:53 PM on 09/08/2011

Looks like he keeps a messy bedroom in that space station

[mddunnington]

08:48 PM on 09/08/2011

What else are they not letting the American people look at??

[lthrnck68]

06:51 PM on 09/08/2011

Amazing what can be seen from so far away. Sad that it was visible at all.

[reddsox35]

12:29 AM on 09/09/2011

I agree. Very sad indeed.

[jeromerudolf]

06:03 PM on 09/08/2011

Remember what happened, but it's nothing new. Islam has been attacking western civilization for 1400 years. Love Muslim's, as our brothers, but defend against the Christian heresy of Islam. In the past we have been successful in defending ourselves when Christianity was united. Pray, read John 17:21, and work for Christian unity.

[FearlessFreep]

08:35 PM on 09/08/2011

Remember the First Crusade of 1099?

[NYC07]

11:34 PM on 09/08/2011

Perhaps they were just a response to: the Islamic Conquest of Hispania (711–718) and Septimania (719–720) or perhaps The Conquest of Cyprus in 654 or perhaps The first Arab siege of Constantinople, 674–678 or The second Arab siege of Constantinople, 717–718 or maybe The conquest of Crete, 820 or maybe The conquest of southern Italy, 827 you never know.

[jeromerudolf]

08:43 AM on 09/13/2011

Thanks for your question. Well, I wasn't there, but many good histories explain it as a defense of western civilization, after most of what we now call the middle east and northern Africa was enslaved by the sword of Islam.

[Monzeus]

08:42 PM on 09/08/2011

People who practice Islam have been attacking the west for a long time. People in the west who practice Christianity also have a history of attacking Muslim peoples (i.e. The Crusades). How about we work for human unity in addition to religious unity? Religion itself is not the problem here, and each one cannot wall itself off to the world and expect good things to happen. Killing in the name of religion in any context, on any side is unacceptable and contrary to the primary teachings of all major religions. Humility, respect, discipline, empowerment to do good. . .happiness.

[reddsox35]

12:36 AM on 09/09/2011

Radical Religious believers are the reason that so many wars happen .Unfortunatly religion will never see eye to eye or even come to an agreement to be disagreeable.... sure you may find a few people that can talk things over and be openminded. but when it comes to churches and diehard believers, never will it happen.

[Allen Engebretsen]

05:59 PM on 09/08/2011

Yea, though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I will fear no evil, nor the politicians trying to co-opt the 9/11 memorial for their own agenda. September 11th isn't a holiday, it's a reminder; patriotism never surrenders and never forgets the fallen, ever.

[darkwaterz29]

07:11 PM on 09/08/2011

Dude...put the weed down and take your tinfoil hat off. Show a little respect.

[kingamenhotepiv]

07:21 PM on 09/08/2011

"Reminder exactly of what?" Is that all you can say? What about the over 3,000 innocent people that lost their lives? What about the grief and sadness each of their families still carry in their hearts today? And all you can say is that the towers were two asbestos infested buildings that were decidedly detonated! What a wonderful compassionate person you must be......NOT!!!

[musicmamaf]

06:57 PM on 09/08/2011

Fanned- Very well said Allen

[undaunted8]

05:22 PM on 09/08/2011

As 10 years approaches I think it's important to remember what happened that day, Jewish people talk about remembering the horrors of the Holocaust in order to help prevent it from ever happening again. Being vigilant, trying to weed out any sign of future atrocities is, in my opinion, a very wise thing to do.

[jammer0079]

06:49 PM on 09/08/2011

Funny how Jewish people only seem to remember WWII. I guess, no Ukrainians remember WWII? Oh, that's right; Stalin killed over 10 million of them. Probably none left to remember.

[FearlessFreep]

08:36 PM on 09/08/2011

I thought it was more like 5 million.

[kimmie0]

04:37 PM on 09/08/2011

I find it amazing that the ISS was over NYC at the time of the attack... what a bizarre coincidence.

[kilted heretic]

05:48 PM on 09/08/2011

The ISS orbits the earth once every 90 minutes. From first impact to the first tower collapse was over 100 minutes.

[kimmie0]

01:46 AM on 09/09/2011

Interesting, but in the equatorial orbit, the location of the ISS could be anywhere from 70 degrees north to 70 degrees south... that's a pretty wide swath. Do you more have info on its orbital path? I've watched the ISS pass over southern New Mexico, but its orbit doesn't always bring it over the desert...