The image was shot from the International Space Station

Sep 11, 2013 18:31 GMT  ·  By

NASA is commemorating the 9/11 attacks with a unique perspective, quite literally, on the somber day 12 years ago.

The space agency has published imagery taken from space of the Word Trade Center site and a large part of New York. The huge smoke plumes are clearly visible and extend for several kilometers.

"Visible from space, a smoke plume rises from the Manhattan area after two planes crashed into the towers of the World Trade Center," NASA commented.

"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," it added.

The image was taken from the International Space Station by the Commander of one of the first ISS missions, Frank Culbertson of Expedition 3.