On September 11, 2001, only one American was not on the planet Earth while the Twin Towers burned to the ground: Commander Frank Lee Culbertson Jr. As the commander of the International Space Station, Culbertson watched, along with two Russian astronauts, the horrific attacks from 230 miles above the Earth's surface. In the days that followed, he wrote a series of letters to his family and friends back home which gave voice to his feelings on what transpired so far away from the ISS.
Below is a portion of one letter that describes Culbertson snapping the above photo of the Towers burning:
"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…
Head to NASA to read all of Culbertson's letters.
[NASA via The Atlantic]
