宇航員目睹911撞擊 航拍照重現惡夢

On the morning of September 11 2001 there was only one American off-planet – Expedition 3 Commander Frank Culbertson.
　　2001年9月11日的早上，在美國的宇航飛船上，只有指揮官弗蘭克·卡本特森一人。

While 220 miles above the Earth aboard the International Space Station, Culbertson took incredible pictures of the Twin Towers after they were struck by the hijacked jets.

在距離地球220英里的航空站，卡本特森看到了難以置信的畫面，世貿中心的姊妹樓被劫持的飛機撞毀了。

The station was passing over New York at the time of the attacks and it had a profound effect on the astronaut.

在襲擊發生的時候，卡本特森正好飛過紐約的上空，這使得他很清楚的看到了襲擊後的場面。

In a public message to his countrymen, he wrote the following day: ‘It's horrible to see smoke pouring from wounds in your own country from such a fantastic vantage point.

在給同胞的信息說，他這樣說：“看到那些煙從那樣一個雄偉的建築物中傾斜出簡直太可怕了。”

‘The dichotomy of being on a spacecraft dedicated to improving life on the Earth and watching life being destroyed by such wilful, terrible acts is jolting to the psyche, no matter who you are.’

“宇航員生活的二重性就在於他們既能感受到地球的進化，同時也能看到地球被任意可怕的行爲毀壞。”

Culbertson explained that upon learning of the attacks he rushed around the station until he found a window that would give him a view of New York and grabbed the nearest camera.

他還解釋說當他意識到襲擊發生時，他急忙衝進空間站人後抓住一部最近的相機，找到一扇能夠看到紐約的窗戶準備拍照。

He said: ‘The smoke seemed to have an odd bloom to it at the base of the column that was streaming south of the city.

他說，“那些煙好象是個奇怪的花的形狀，並向城市的南邊蔓延。”

‘I believe we were looking at NY around the time of, or shortly after, the collapse of the second tower. How horrible…’

Nasa was asked to monitor the area above Manhattan after the Twin Towers came down and its satellite photographs the smoke rising from Ground Zero the following day.

在姊妹樓倒塌之後，美國宇航局監控着曼哈頓上空的地區。第二天他們的衛星也拍下來了煙霧上升的照片。

Culbertson also wrote of his anguish at being separated from his friends and family at such a tragic time.

在和朋友以及家人分離後，卡爾特森也書寫了他的痛苦。

He said: ‘It's difficult to describe how it feels to be the only American completely off the planet at a time such as this. The feeling that I should be there with all of you, dealing with this, helping in some way, is overwhelming.’

他說，“當時簡直無法描述作爲唯一一個美國人在天空中看到全場景的過程的感覺。那種我希望和你們在一起，一起面對困難，一起幫助他人的感覺是那樣的強烈。”