Wielding video cameras, the U.S. astronaut and his cosmonaut colleagues captured startling images of the carnage. The video subsequently were beamed down to ground controllers and replayed on NASA TV.

"There was a large plume of smoke coming from Lower Manhattan and streaming off to the south," Culbertson said.

"We were too far away to see much in the way of detail, but we could see where in the city it was, and there also was a shroud of smoke over the large part of the city," he added. "I think we were seeing it shortly after one of the towers had collapsed."

His reaction?

"It was quite a disturbing sight," Culbertson said. "It was something to see, and very heartbreaking."

Back on Earth, the first inclination of many people was to call family and friends -- to check in with loved ones as news of the devastating attack began to sink in. And despite their comparative isolation, Culbertson and his crewmates felt the same way.

"It's no different than anybody else who is away from home during serious events like this," the retired U.S. Navy captain and former military test pilot said. "For people in the military who have done this for centuries, this is a thing you have to learn to deal with. For us in space, it's similar."

The station trio, he said, has been keeping in touch and up-to-date via e-mail and space-to-ground radio chats with flight controllers, family and friends.

"We were able to keep up with it pretty well and talk with our families occasionally about how they were feeling and what was going on down there," Culbertson said.

The view from on high, meanwhile, is providing Culbertson and his colleagues with a different perspective on a world that now seems to be poised for an extended war on terrorism.

"For me personally, flying in space is always an experience that opens my eyes and makes me not take things for granted. It makes me appreciate the world we live in," Culbertson said.

"Obviously, we have huge disagreements with certain people in the world, and the fact that we are not able to resolve those is very sad and very tragic at this point," he added.

"But you can see from up here in space that it's a small and fragile world in many ways, as solid a rock as it is. And if we don't learn how to work together on it, we're going to have huge problems in the future."

On a brighter note, Culbertson and his crew -- which includes Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Turin -- say they have adapted well to weightlessness aboard the 17-story station, where the trio is entering the seventh week of a planned four-month research tour.

"It's great living up here. It's a lot of fun to be weightless and not have to walk -- I haven't sat in a chair for almost two months. But you have to get used to it because it's a lot different than down on Earth," Culbertson said.

"I personally felt pretty clumsy when I first came aboard the station and saw how easily the second expedition crew moved around and how quickly they got from one end to the other, and now I feel pretty natural here too."

Added Turin: "It just took me a few days and now I can fly."

Culbertson, Dezhurov and Turin have a busy two months ahead.

A new Russian docking compartment arrived at the station nine days ago, and the astronauts and cosmonauts will perform three spacewalks in October and early November to outfit it externally.

Also in work: some 50 U.S., European and Russian science experiments that are to be wrapped up prior to the crew's return to Earth aboard shuttle Endeavour, which now is set for launch Nov. 29 on a 11-day round-trip to the outpost.

"We're scheduled to be picked up by the shuttle in early December, so we're hoping to be home for Christmas," Culbertson said. "But if not, we're ready to stay longer if necessary."

As it stands, Culbertson and his crewmates are due back on Earth Dec. 10.