Posted on 09/17/2002 4:44:06 PM PDT by anymouse
As citizens of this nation, NASA employees grieve with our neighbors, friends and relatives as we face the one year anniversary of September 11. Working daily with the harsh reality of life outside the protection of this planet, we perhaps took for granted the fragility of "safety" at home. In the aftermath of the events last September, we awoke to a new appreciation for our flag and our fellow man. We drew together as a nation, as well as a body of humanity, to mourn and rebuild. At NASA, we looked for ways to help the recovery process with the resources we have available to us, both as individuals and as an organization. Here are a few of our contributions.
Astronaut Frank L. Culbertson, Jr. served as Expedition Three Commander on the International Space Station and was the only American not on the planet at the time of the terrorist attacks. He captured the first dramatic images from space of the fires at the World Trade Center shortly before the buildings collapsed. He wrote of the experience:
"It's horrible to see smoke pouring from wounds in your own country from such a fantastic vantage point. The dichotomy of being on a spacecraft dedicated to improving life on the earth and watching life being destroyed by such willful, terrible acts is jolting to the psyche, no matter who you are. And the knowledge that everything will be different than when we launched by the time we land is a little disconcerting. I have confidence in our country and in our leadership that we will do everything possible to better defend her and our families, and to bring justice for what has been done. I have confidence that the good people at NASA will do everything necessary to continue our mission safely and return us safely at the right time."
You can read more of his thoughts found in his letter from space.
NASA employees around the nation generously donated blood, time, and money to emergency recovery and relief efforts. Employees served meals and bussed tables at the Ground Zero "Taj Mahal," where the Red Cross served and supported emergency crew at the site. Personnel from the NASA Office of Inspector General volunteered to work 12-hour shifts for eight straight days at both disaster sites under extremely difficult physical and emotional conditions. They also provided technical expertise to evaluate data from dozens of federal search warrants following the terrorist attacks.
Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team:
Lynne Engelbert, Section Chief of Training for NASA's Ames Disaster Assistance & Rescue Team, served on the team of civil servants, contractors and Ames Associates who helped the rescue effort at Ground Zero. "It's always a pleasure to talk about what NASA Ames personnel (civil servant, contractors and Ames Associates) are able to do to support our Country during a time of need like that after the events of Sept. 11, 2001." Lynn teamed with Lucy, her specially trained border collie, in the aftermath of 9/11.
Lynn Engelbert with Lucy: "She was almost 11 years old at the time and worked like a dog much younger than her years. She is a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) certified Type I (advanced) Disaster Search dog and is also a California Office of Emergency Services certified Cadaver Search Dog. I'm pretty proud of the work she's done in her career."
Satellite Imagery and Technical Assistance:
NASA's Earth Science Enterprise sent a remote-sensing scientist to New York following the events of Sept. 11 to aid the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the disaster recovery efforts. Using advanced technologies it has developed for observations of Earth, NASA was able to provide imagery that was used by emergency managers to identify dangerous areas of the site and determine the material composition of the wreckage.
Dr. Bruce Davis of the Stennis Space Center, Stennis, Miss., served as a technical consultant to NASA's Northeast Regional Applications Center in Auburn, N.Y. providing visualizations of the affected area for the governor's office. Shortly after his arrival, Davis became technical advisor to FEMA. NASA's satellite images demonstrated a lack of asbestos on the ground at the World Trade Center recovery site.
NASA applied image-processing expertise to enhance underground radar images of the area around the World Trade Center in New York, providing a clearer picture of what's beneath the surface. Using a new technique called underground "radar tomography," which resembles satellite radar but rides on the back of a truck directly over the site, the technique produced a 3-D picture of what's below the surface to depths of about 1.8 meters (6 feet). This technique provided enhanced subsurface images of the area around Ground Zero to help pinpoint utility lines, and proved valuable in helping reduce the amount of digging needed to maintain dense underground utility networks.
Following the attacks on the World Trade Center, New York City Police pulled an American flag from the debris. The flag, damaged but intact, was flown nearly 5 million miles in space aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour during STS-108 in December as part of the agency's Flags for Heroes and Families campaign. The large American Flag, along with other commemorative badges, patches and other items, were carried into space with nearly 6,000 smaller American flags that were given to the victims' families in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
On Flag Day 2002, NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe led a delegation of astronauts in a special presentation of colors at the American Museum of Natural History's Rose Center for Earth and Space in New York. Along with Administrator O'Keefe, NASA astronauts Frank Culbertson, Dominic Gorie, Linda Godwin and Michael Massimino help present the flown items to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New York Governor George Pataki, and representatives from the New York Police Department, Fire Department and the New York and New Jersey Port Authority. Gorie was mission commander of STS-108 and Godwin was a mission specialist on board Endeavour during the December mission. Massimino has close ties to the New York Fire Department and was mission specialist on board the Space Shuttle Columbia during STS-109 in March.
Throughout America today, many of our fellow citizens are taking part in events like this as we commemorate one of the saddest days in our nation’s history. It is our blessing and curse as human beings that we have the profound capacity to remember. As we grow older, it is true that all the days of our lives tend to blur together in our minds. Some days, however, are so seared in our memory, so much so, that we can instantly recall their sights, sounds and emotions many years later.
We have such memories of the very good days, like that beautiful summer day in July 1969 when two American astronauts first walked on the Moon in a triumph for the human spirit and for this great agency. And, regrettably, we have such memories, painful as they may be, of that September day one year ago, when our worst fears rather than our greatest dreams were realized. And those memories will unfortunately stay with us forever.All of us have a story to tell about what we saw, and what we felt one year ago as we watched the events unfold on television, or for those of us here in Washington and in New York, as we became eyewitnesses to the Pearl Harbor of our time. And unfortunately, many of us were pained to the core when we later learned that among those lost that September morning were people we knew as treasured friends, relatives, and colleagues. No period of time can totally eliminate the heartbreak of this loss. But we can honor the memories of those we lost by moving on from our anguish and by embodying the tremendous courage and resolve that was displayed by the heroic passengers on Flight 93 in the skies above Pennsylvania.
Of course, as we look forward, the nation is counting on NASA to develop technologies that are vital to public safety and to our mission goal of understanding and protecting our home planet. I’m proud that NASA scientists are hard at work, striving to develop technologies to help prevent civilian aircraft from being used as guided weapons, and to develop aircraft that are strong enough to withstand explosion damage and land safely. It is our heartfelt dream that the events that happened on September 11th cannot and will not ever happen again. And I’m confident that the men and women of NASA can play an important role in making sure that this dream turns into reality.
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