Remembering 9/11: NASA Astronauts Pay Tribute from Space

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A New York City Fire Department patch floats in the Cupola window of the International Space Station on the 18th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.
A New York City Fire Department patch floats in the Cupola window of the International Space Station on the 18th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks. (Image credit: NASA)

On the 18th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, NASA astronauts paid tribute to the heroes who risked their lives to save others on that day by tweeting a special message from space.

"Honoring the brave public servants of @FDNY. Thank you for your service, we remember your fallen comrades," NASA's Expedition 60 (opens in new tab) astronaut Drew Morgan tweeted from the International Space Station. "Your flag and patch are proudly orbiting the Earth on board the @Space_Station! #NeverForget."

Morgan shared photos of a New York City Fire Department (FDNY) patch floating in the Cupola window with a view of Earth in the background, as well as a photo of himself with an FDNY flag mounted inside the orbiting laboratory. 

Video: Astronaut Shares What 9/11 Looked Like from Space (opens in new tab)
Related: 9/11 Remembered in Space Photos (opens in new tab)

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NASA also commemorated the somber anniversary from down on Earth by sharing a recent photo of Manhattan captured from space. NASA astronaut Christina Koch captured the photo below from the International Space Station (opens in new tab) as it passed over the area on Aug. 19, 2019.

NASA astronaut Christina Koch took this photo of New York City from the International Space Station on Aug. 19, 2019. (Image credit: Christina Koch/NASA)


"Each year, we pause and never forget," NASA officials said in a statement (opens in new tab). "Beyond remembering and honoring the Americans who died that day, NASA also assisted FEMA in New York in the days afterward, and remembered the victims by providing flags flown aboard the Space Shuttle to their families."

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Hanneke Weitering
Hanneke Weitering

Hanneke Weitering is an editor at Space.com with 10 years of experience in science journalism. She has previously written for Scholastic Classroom Magazines, MedPage Today and The Joint Institute for Computational Sciences at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. After studying physics at the University of Tennessee in her hometown of Knoxville, she earned her graduate degree in Science, Health and Environmental Reporting (SHERP) from New York University. Hanneke joined the Space.com team in 2016 as a staff writer and producer, covering topics including spaceflight and astronomy. She currently lives in Seattle, home of the Space Needle, with her cat and two snakes. In her spare time, Hanneke enjoys exploring the Rocky Mountains, basking in nature and looking for dark skies to gaze at the cosmos.