The destruction inflicted by the suicidal terrorists whose actions have killed thousands of people are visible even from space.
Satellite images reveal in detail the impact of the hijacked passenger aircraft on the Pentagon in Washington DC. Sixty-five people were on the plane and hundreds on the ground may have died.
Taken at 1146 EDT on Wednesday, the one-metre resolution satellite image shows extensive damage to the western side and interior rings of the multi-ringed building.
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Another image, also collected by Space Imaging鈥檚 Ikonos satellite a few minutes earlier, shows a large cloud of dust and smoke at the location where the twin towers of the World Trade Center once stood. The satellite orbits 677 kilometres above the Earth.
The consequences of the atrocities were also seen by astronauts aboard the International Space Station, 384 km above Earth.
鈥淎s we went over Maine, we could see New York City and the smoke from the fires,鈥� US astronaut Frank Culbertson told engineers in NASA鈥檚 Mission Control Center in Houston.
鈥淚 hope that the people responsible are caught and brought to justice as soon as possible,鈥� said Culbertson. 鈥淏ut first, our prayers and condolences to everybody involved.鈥�