US attacks - a space gallery

The horror of the suicide aircraft attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington DC is captured by Earth-observing satellites in orbit.

The top picture is a French Spot satellite image of Manhattan, taken on 11 September, three hours after two planes crashed into the World Trade Center. The colours result from the use of infrared bands to identify fire hot spots. There are red dots at the base of the plume. (Image courtesy of CNES/Spot Image 2001)

The Expedition Three crew on the International Space Station witnessed the drama unfold from an altitude of nearly 400 kilometres (250 miles). (Image courtesy of Nasa)

The smoke from the World Trade Center billows across New York. This image was taken by a US Geological Survey satellite that flew over the area about 45 minutes after the attack began. (Image courtesy of USGS)

A one-metre resolution satellite image of the Pentagon collected by the Ikonos satellite at 1146 EDT on 12 September. (Image courtesy of Spaceimaging.com)

Nasa's Terra satellite saw Manhattan from an altitude of about 1,300 kilometres (800 miles). (Image courtesy of Nasa)

Satellites run by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), which usually track storms, forest fires and volcanic eruptions, could not miss the devastation in Manhattan. (Image courtesy of Noaa)

The Ikonos view of Manhattan. Ikonos travels 680 kilometres (420 miles) above the Earth's surface at a speed of 28,000 kilometres per hour (17,500 mph). (Image courtesy of Spaceimaging.com)