Universe Today - September 12, 2001
A note from Fraser...
Well, I don't really know what to say. Like the rest of you, I've spent the day glued to the television, watching events unfold on the East Coast of the United States and the aftermath of the terrorist attacks. Words can't convey the tragedy that happened today. I want to extend my and Canada's support and sympathy to all of my American readers, and anyone with relatives and friends who were affected by what happened today. Unfortunately, I suspect that's a lot of people.
Because of the massive media coverage of this event, space news is going to take a backseat for a little while, so there's a significant possibility that there'll be an interruption of Universe Today. I've also volunteered here in Vancouver to help out with the international travelers who are stranded at our airport. Finally, I work indirectly for one of the airlines involved in this disaster, so I may be needed to assist their web communications. Don't worry, I'll be back.
Fraser Cain
Publisher
Universe Today
P.S. Thanks to everyone who wrote back to me today with feedback on the new design. It was overwhelmingly well received. It didn't work well with WebTV, but I think I've fixed the problem with this edition. Also the folks using an older version of Exchange couldn't open the links by clicking on them (I'm stumped with this one). Finally, if you're reading your mail offline, you won't see the embedded images - just connect to the Internet while you're reading this message and it should look great.
 NASA |
NASA Closes Down In Response to Terrorist Attacks
Within a few hours of the destruction of the World Trade Center, NASA announced that it was shutting down all of its facilities across the United States and was sending all non-essential employees home. In Florida, technicians "safed" the four space shuttles to protect them from possible attacks, and increased the overall security of the area. There is no word on when the facilities will be opened again, perhaps as late as Thursday. Several aerospace companies, including Boeing, Lockheed Martin and others also shut down their offices on Tuesday. |
 NASA |
Space Station Astronauts Spot Disaster from Orbit
In orbit, some 384 kilometres above the Earth, astronauts on board the International Space Station were clearly able to see smoke billowing on the island of Manhattan during Tuesday's destruction of the World Trade Center. Although astronauts Frank Culbertson, Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail Turin were able to see the fire in New York as they passed over Maine, they couldn't spot the destruction at the Pentagon.
Internet Coverage:
MSNBC -
SPACE.com
Similar Stories: International Space Station Related Sites: NASA Related Books: NASA |