HOUSTON - NASA
commemorated the five-year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United
States Monday with a video recorded by Expedition
Three astronaut Frank Culbertson, who was aboard the International Space
Station (ISS) the day of the 2001 tragedy.
Culbertson,
who commanded Expedition Three, had been aboard the ISS for a month with
Russian cosmonauts Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail Turin when the 9/11 attacks
took place. The ISS crew learned of the attacks during a radio conference with
flight surgeons, prompting Culbertson to record the Earth as the station passed
over the northeastern United
States.
"We just
had a short dash to make this at the very end," Culbertson said as he narrated
the video, adding that the ISS passed over Maine and could see the smoking remains of the World Trade Center in New
York City. "Our
prayers and thoughts go out to all the people there...to the people in Washington.
"I just wanted the
folks in New York to know that their city still looks
very beautiful from space," Culbertson said. "I know it's a very difficult day
for everybody in America right now and I know folks are
struggling very hard to deal with this and recover from it, but the country
still looks good."
Culberton's
two-minute video was the first of several memorials held to recognize the 9/11
attacks and honor their victims.
When NASA's
space shuttle Endeavour launched toward the ISS in December 2001, it carried a U.S. flag retrieved from the World Trade Center. The astronaut crews of Endeavour,
Expedition Three and their Expedition Four relief also paid tribute during
their joint operations and landing.
"I hope
that the people responsible are found and brought to justice just as soon as
possible," Culbertson said in his video.
The day
after the Sept. 11,
2001 attacks,
Culbertson learned
that former U.S. Naval Academy classmate and friend Charles "Chic"
Burlingame was the designated pilot of American Airlines Flight 77, which
struck the Pentagon.
"The
world changed today," Culbertson said of the 9/11 attacks. "What I say or do is
very minor compared to the significance of what happened to our country today
when it was attacked."
Five years
after the 9/11 attacks, NASA's space shuttle Atlantis docked
at the ISS with six
STS-115 astronauts and a new addition for the orbital outpost.
Click here full coverage of NASA's space shuttle missions.
advertisement
