WebProNews » September 11th

9/11 Attacks, Ground Zero As Captured From Space

Josh Wolford — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 15:47:11 +0000

On September 11th, 2001, Astronaut Frank Culbertson was the only American not on the planet Earth. He was aboard the International Space Station, the only American on the crew.

He happened to be flying over the New York City area when the World Trade Center attack went down, and he decided to document the events from above. The result is some amazing photo and video documentation of what it all looked like from miles away.

NASA has put some of those photos on their site as part of a NASA Remembers September 11th tribute. The photo you see in the lead image was taken by Culbertson on the morning of 9/11. What you see is the smoke and debris rising up from ground zero, a truly heartbreaking and amazing sight.

Culbertson also documented his thoughts about witnessing 9/11 from space in a public letter, which NASA has posted in its entirety on their site. Here’s an excerpt from what he wrote on September 11th, 2001 –

The smoke seemed to have an odd bloom to it at the base of the column that was streaming south of the city. After reading one of the news articles we just received, I believe we were looking at NY around the time of, or shortly after, the collapse of the second tower. How horrible…

And this is from the very next 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. I have confidence in our country and in our leadership that we will do everything possible to better defend her and our families, and to bring justice for what has been done.

Culbertson talks about the experience in this NASA video. In it, you also get glimpses of the video that he recorded from the ISS on 9/11.

NASA captured other photos from high above NYC. This photo was taken the day after, by the Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) aboard the Landsat satellite –

“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,” said astronaut Culbertson on 9/11.

I can’t even imagine what that felt like, seeing it all unfold from space.

Google Utilized to “Make History” for 9/11 Remembrance

Chris Crum — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:50:10 +0000

Google has been criticized by some in the past for not featuring 9/11 doodles on the home page on the anniversary of the attacks on September 11th. Google is, however, pointing to a site from the company’s official blog, that invites people to "share their experiences of 9/11 and its aftermath in an effort to preserve the memories of that time."

The site is called Make History, and utilizes Google Maps Street View and Google’s App Engine. People can submit their photos/videos of the site of the World Trade Center attacks, the Pentagon, and the site of the Flight 93 crash, as well as their stories.

The site was created by the National September 11th Memorial & Museum in partnership with design firm Local Projects.

Bing and Ask both have up 9/11 memorial images, and there is an iPhone app called 9/11 Numbers (via RWW).

Doug Caverly of WebProNews, who also writes regularly for the NYC Tower site, has a new piece up today. Read that here.

Remembering 9/11 Across the Web

Chris Crum — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 17:03:37 +0000

Today marks the anniversary of one of the darkest days in our country’s history. Seven years later, the memories still haunt us, as well as fuel discussion. The web provides an outlet for venting, theorizing, and just plain memorial, and it’s as good a platform as any for just that. Nothing has a wider reach.

As John McCain and Barack Obama battle for "narrative control of the web", both are showing their remembrance of the events of 9/11 on their websites. I personally have expressed how I feel seven years later on our own NYC-Tower.com site. Some pay tribute through photo galleries, or by simply promoting stories on popular social bookmarking sites.

Some simply cover news stories about the event, or point toward others who do. Despite some reports of a lack of events and tributes, it is still very clear that people remember, and will not be forgetting within their lifetimes. As a bit of our own tribute, allow me to just share some links in honor of those who lost their lives, and those close to them:

The Wikipedia Page

Tributes on YouTube

Feel free to use the comments on this post as an outlet to share your feelings. Otherwise, there are plenty of other venues on the web for you to do so.

Honoring The Fallen Of 9/11

Michael Stelzner — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 16:41:09 +0000

I remember waking up to the news of tower one crashing down.

I remember watching those brave men with fire hoses rushing up the stairs of tower two.

I remember bodies falling from smoke filled windows.

I remember ash covered women emerging from the gray haze.

I remember bending my knee in church and praying.

Never forget.

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