airtraffic_absence_010914 CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. The International Space Stations crew spied yet more evidence Friday of the aftermath of this weeks terrorists attacks on America: the lack of air traffic over the continental United States.
Three days after suicide airplane hijackers toppled the World Trade Center in New York and slammed into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., the station crew noted an obvious absence of airborne jetliners from their perch 240 miles (384 kilometers) above Earth.
"Ill tell you one thing thats really strange: Normally when we go over the U.S., the sky is like a spider web of contrails," U.S. astronaut and outpost commander Frank Culbertson told flight controllers at NASAs Mission Control Center in Houston.
"And now the sky is just about completely empty. There are no contrails in the sky," he added. "Its very, very weird."
"I hadnt thought of that perspective," fellow astronaut Cady Coleman replied.
Air traffic in the United States remained relatively sparse as less than half the nations normally scheduled morning flights or about 1,700 of 4,000 actually took off from airports around the country.
Some major airports remained closed, including Bostons Logan Airport the embarkation point of the two hijacked airliners that struck the twin 110-story World Trade Center towers Tuesday.
The New York areas major airports John F. Kennedy International, LaGuardia and Newark International reopened Thursday but then closed abruptly as the FBI detained 10 suspected terrorists for questioning. All were cleared and later released but the airports remained closed.
And Reagan National Airport, located just outside Washington, D.C., still was shut down because of its close proximity to the Pentagon, the White House and other key government buildings in the nations capital.
"We do have air traffic resumed at many airports, although not the New York area or the Washington area yet," Coleman told the station crew, which includes Russian cosmonauts Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail Turin.
"They are resuming travel?" Culbertson asked.
"At some airports they are, and at others they are not," Coleman replied. "I dont think Logans resumed yet either."
Onboard the international station since August, Culbertson and his crew have taken a keen interest in the terrorist attacks and their aftermath. In the past few days, the trio has beamed back
video images of the towering plume that billowed up from the World Trade Center as well as the disaster site lit up for emergency rescue efforts at night.Other NASA and commercial remote sensing satellites have sent back
images of the carnage in both New York and at the Pentagon, the latter of which is the nerve center and headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense.Flight controllers, meanwhile, have been keeping the crew updated on the rescue and recovery efforts at both disaster sites, where the number of dead or missing now stand at about 5,000 people.
And the station crew is continuing to take video with every pass over the U.S. eastern seaboard, although their efforts Friday were thwarted by the same rainy weather that hampered workers sorting through massive rubble piles in New York and Washington.
"Unfortunately, the east coast was pretty well covered with clouds, so we didnt get a whole lot couldnt see a whole lot," Culbertson said. "They had quite a lot of rain last night, and its continuing, which is making things difficult down there," Coleman replied.
The entire U.S. space agency, meanwhile, observed a moment of silent prayer at noon EDT (1600 GMT) as part of a national day of remembrance for the victims of the terrorist attacks and their surviving families.
In a ceremony broadcast at NASA headquarters and the agencys 10 field centers, NASA chief Dan Goldin said the agency wanted "to honor the spirit of our nation and the brave people caught in the midst of this senseless tragedy."
"Along with millions of Americans, we are gathered together to pray to our Creator for guidance, and to enlighten the nations leadership and provide them the wisdom that will prepare them to lead us on a path to righteousness and justice," added Christopher Rodriguez of the NASA headquarters Equal Opportunity and Diversity Management Office. "We will, and I repeat, we will win this spiritual battle against this evil in our midst."
advertisement
