An astronaut shared his experience of 9/11.
Frank Culbertson was the only American off-planet during the devastating terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. When the first plane hit the World Trade Center, Culbertson was approximately 250 miles above Earth, working in The International Space Station with two Russian cosmonauts.
Looking down at the earth, Culbertson could see smoke billowing over New York City which he quickly realized was caused by the collapse of the second of the Twin Towers to fall.
Watch the moving video here:The astronaut spoke about the harrowing moment in a 2014 documentary titled Astronauts: Houston We Have a Problem. The clip has resurfaced on TikTok, accompanied by Culbertson's commentary of what he was seeing.
In the video, he describes how he rushed to record the historic attacks. "I raced around and found a video camera and a window facing in the right direction," he said.
"The weather was perfectly clear that day. I could easily see New York City - a big black column of smoke coming out of the city, and as I zoomed in with the video camera, I could see this big grey blob enveloping southern Manhattan," the astronaut continued, adding: "What we were seeing was the second tower coming down."
Culbertson can also be heard reporting on what he could see to Mission Control at the time. "We can see New York City, and the smoke from the fires," he describes.
"Our prayers and thoughts go out to all the people there and everywhere else. Here I'm looking up and down the East Coast to see if I can see anything else," the astronaut continues, adding: "I just want the folks in New York to know that their city still looks very beautiful from space."
The clip has already racked up hundreds of thousands of views on TikTok, with many people taking to the comments section to share their experiences of seeing the towers fall.
"Absolutely heartbreaking. I remember my mom told me she was feeding me my bottle when she saw the attack on TV," one person shared.
"I remember that smoke cloud hovered over Manhattan for days," another wrote, while a third commented: "My son was 11 days old and that morning. Just heartbreaking, everything went silent."
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