Nineteen years ago this day, a devastating event shook the world. Friday marks 19 years since the September 11 terrorist attacks on US — a tragedy that resulted in a staggering loss of life and a significant change in American culture. NASA has remembered the tragedy by sharing its memories of the devastating attack on New York.
“The attacks of September 11, 2001 were a national tragedy that resulted in a staggering loss of life and a significant change in American culture. Each year, we pause and never forget. Beyond remembering and honoring the Americans who died that day,” the agency said.
RELATED READ: Satellite imagery for journalism — Why a picture is worth a thousand words
NASA also took the opportunity to commemorate the victims of the attack, by sharing images from previous International Space Station (ISS) astronauts of Ground Zero. One image was by NASA astronaut Jessica Meir who photographed the New York City area from the International Space Station in March 2020.
Another image came from European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet who photographed the Washington DC area on April 11, 2017. The Pentagon, which also came under attack on 9/11, can be seen at the center right of the image.
NASA also remembered astronaut Frank Culbertson – the only American off the planet at that time — who helplessly looked on at the tragedy from orbit as he worked on the International Space Station. His cameras captured some of the most unique and painful vantage point of the tragedy – the attacks and aftermath.
“Other than the emotional impact of our country being attacked and thousands of our citizens and maybe some friends being killed, the most overwhelming feeling being where I am is one of isolation,” Culbertson wrote in a letter the following 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. And the knowledge that everything will be different than when we launched by the time we land is a little disconcerting.”
Blast from the past
Beyond remembering and honoring the Americans who died that day, NASA also assisted Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in New York in the days afterward, and remembered the victims by providing flags flown aboard the Space Shuttle to their families.
Let’s take a look at some of the satellite images of the eventful day and the aftermath.
This above image taken on the morning of September 9, 2001, by Culbertson from the International Space Station shows the smoke plume rising from the Manhattan area where the World Trade Center was just destroyed. The ISS was flying at an altitude of approximately 250 miles when this was captured.
The image below taken the next day at 11.30 am EST, with smoke still billowing from ground zero. This true-color image was taken by the Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) aboard the Landsat 7 satellite on September 12, 2001, at roughly 11.30 am Eastern Daylight Savings Time.
The Landsat 7 combination imagery above shows the New York City the day after 9/11 attacks and one year later.
The image below acquired by Landsat 5 of the New York City two days after the attacks shows smoke continuing to emanate from lower Manhattan.
The above image of Manhattan, acquired by SPOT satellite of the French Space agency CNES on the day of the attack at at 11:55 AM EST, roughly 3 hours after two planes crashed into the WTC. The colors result from the use of infrared bands to identify the actual fire hot spots (see red spots near the base of the smoke plume). The SPOT satellites orbit at an altitude of 822 km.
The below image from NASA‘s Terra Satellite captured on September 12, 2001, shows the fire plume from Manhattan after the attacks. These images were put together from Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. They were taken from an altitude between 620 and 876 nautical miles above the Earth’s surface.
DigitalGlobe’s (now called Maxar) IKONOS satellite captured this above one-meter resolution satellite image of the Manhattan at 11.43 am EDT on September 12, 2001.
Below is the same image zoomed in to show an area of white dust and smoke at the location where the 1,350-foot towers of the World Trade Center once stood. IKONOS travels 423 miles above the Earth’s surface at a speed of 17,500 miles per hour.
On September 15, 2001, IKONOS again captured this above image of Manhattan, New York at 11:54 am EDT which shows the remains of the 1,350-foot towers of the World Trade Center.
The zoomed in section of the same image below shows the debris and dust that settled throughout the area and many emergency and rescue vehicles in the streets.
