On the 23rd anniversary of the September 11 attacks, NASA released a letter from Frank Culbertson, the only American astronaut in space at the time, reflecting on the experience of watching the tragedy from the International Space Station (ISS).
In a letter dated September 12, 2001, Culbertson recalled the moment he learned of the attacks while aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Describing his shock and horror upon hearing of the events, he wrote, “Well, obviously the world has changed today. What I say or do today is trivial in comparison to the significance of what happened to our country when it was attacked…. Who did it? I think we only know the terrorists. It is hard to know at whom to direct our anger and fear…”
Culbertson, who was serving as commander of Expedition Three at the time, captured photographs of the smoke rising from Lower Manhattan immediately after the Twin Towers collapsed. His letter vividly describes his experience of watching his country come under one of the largest terrorist attacks ever in which 3000 people died.
“It’s hard to describe what it feels like to be the only American completely off the planet at this time. The feeling that I should be with all of you, dealing with this situation, helping in some way, is overwhelming,” he wrote.
Culbertson saw smoke rising while flying over New York City. He took video footage of the smoke, which he said had a “strange bulge” at its base. He later learned that the pilot of the plane that hit the Pentagon was his classmate, Captain Charles Burlingame.
Today, 23 years after the attack, a memorial stands at the site of the Twin Towers to commemorate those who lost their lives in the terror attack. “It is hard to think of a single event that has so profoundly changed American public opinion in so many dimensions as the 9/11 attacks,” Pew Research said in its study. Culbertson’s photo and his letter are a lasting record of that horrific day in American history, saying things would “never be the same” after that.