space photo 9/11
Smoke can still be seen at the site at around 11:30 a.m. on Sept. 12, in this image from the Landsat 7 satellite.USGS Landsat 7 team, at the EROS Data Center

It has been 17 years since 9/11 caused the death of thousands of innocent Americans in a vicious terrorist attack that not only shook the United States but also the entire world. Now, the American space agency NASA, to commemorate the anniversary of that tragic event on the American soil, has shared some new pictures of the New York City and Washington, the places of the terror attacks, taken from space.

Remembering the heroes, victims and the survivors of September 11, 2011, the American space agency shared a photo of the New York City that astronaut Ricky Arnold snapped from the International Space Station.

The image, shared on Twitter, which the astronaut clicked from space, shows the area, where once proudly stood the World Trade Center before the two planes rammed into the Twin Towers.

One World Trade Center, a new tower, was later developed near the Ground Zero memorial.

The space agency also shared another picture on the micro-blogging site, where people can see the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, right across the bridge from Washington. This one was also clicked from NASA's floating space lab. Astronaut Thomas Pesquet from the European Space Agency had captured this picture on April 11, 2017.

9/11 space photo
From his vantage point aboard the International Space Station, European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet photographed the Washington D.C. area on April 11, 2017. The Pentagon can be seen at the center right of the image.ESA/NASA

On September 9, 2011, the only American that was not present on planet Earth was NASA astronaut Frank Culbertson. Expedition 3 Commander Culbertson was the only American member in that crew that year. What he saw from the International Space Station at that hazardous time was smoke. He then started documenting the event from his point of view, around 250 miles above Earth.

space photo 9/11
Visible from space, a smoke plume rises from the Manhattan area after two planes crashed into the towers of the World Trade Center. This photo was taken of metropolitan New York City (and other parts of New York as well as New Jersey) the morning of September 11, 2001.NASA

"The world changed today. What I say or do is very minor compared to the significance of what happened to our country today when it was attacked," astronaut Culbertson wrote in a public letter, which was published soon after the attacks.

"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," he added.