The National Geospatial Intelligence Agency built a detailed replica of the compound where Osama bin Laden was hiding in Pakistan to assist in the construction of two life-size replicas that were used by Seal Team Six members to train for their succesful raid that killed the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. 

That model is now being shown to the public for the first time as part of a new exhibition at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum.

"It's a four-foot-by-four-foot square model," said Clifford Chanin, executive vice president and deputy director of the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. "NGA, which has these extraordinary model making capacities, actually put this together so it could be taken to the White House, shown to the president as part of the briefings of how the mission could be conducted."

The sprawling exhibit documents the government's more-than-decade-long hunt for bin Laden. 

There's a wanted sign with bin Laden's face on it; a backpack seized during the 2003 capture of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the principal architect of the 9/11 attacks; and a handwritten memo by former CIA Director Leon Panetta after President Barack Obama have the go-ahead for the successful bin Laden raid.

"One of the things that struck me in talking to so many of the people we met for this project is how the sense of the history weighed so heavily on them throughout the entire period of service," Chanin said.

Before the museum opened five years ago, some relatives of 9/11 victims objected to the idea of discussing bin Laden at the very site where his followers carried out the massive attack. But Patricia Reilly, whose sister died on 9/11, says she appreciates how the exhibit tells the story of bin Laden's capture. 

"It's very emotional for me, for some reason, because I'm in awe of what went into bringing justice for my sister and those killed on 9/11," Reilly said.

The exhibition opens on November 15. It is expected to stay open for at least 18 months.