In a news release Thursday, the American space organization announced a large section of the destroyed space shuttle was discovered buried in sand at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. The discovery comes more than three decades after the space shuttle exploded, killing a teacher and six others.
[...] The finding is the first remnant to be discovered since two fragments from the left wing washed ashore in 1996, Ciannilli said.
Divers for the documentary first spotted the piece in March while looking for wreckage of a Second World War plane. NASA verified through video a few months ago the piece was part of the Challenger shuttle that broke apart shortly after liftoff on Jan. 28, 1986. All seven on board were killed, including the first schoolteacher bound for space, Christa McAuliffe.
[...] The piece is roughly 4.5 metres by 4.5 metres, but is believed to be bigger because part of it is covered with sand. Due to the square thermal tiles on the piece, it's believed to be from the shuttle's belly, Ciannilli said.
[...] About 107 metric tons of Challenger debris have been found since the accident, representing about 47 per cent of the entre shuttle including parts of the two solid-fuel boosters and external fuel tank.
Most of the recovered wreckage remains buried in abandoned missile silos at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, except for a left side shuttle panel that is on display at Kennedy Space Center's visitor complex. It sits alongside the charred cockpit window frame from shuttle Columbia, which broke apart over Texas during reentry in 2003, killing seven astronauts.
Divers find Challenger space shuttle wreckage off Florida coast
Divers from a documentary crew looking for the wreckage of a World War Two aircraft off the coast of Florida found a 20-foot section of the space shuttle Challenger, which exploded and broke apart shortly after its launch in 1986, NASA said on Thursday.
[...] "This discovery gives us an opportunity to pause once again, to uplift the legacies of the seven pioneers we lost, and to reflect on how this tragedy changed us," NASA administrator Bill Nelson said in the statement.
[...] They were looking for the wreckage of a PBM Martin Mariner Rescue Plane that disappeared without a trace on Dec. 5, 1945, while searching for five U.S. Navy torpedo bombers that had also went missing that day.
[....] The Challenger erupted into a ball of flame 73 seconds after lifting off from Kennedy Space Center on Jan. 28, 1986. All seven crew members were killed, including school teacher Christa McAuliffe.
It remains one of the worst disasters in the history of the U.S. space program.
(Score: 2) by Username on Sunday November 13 2022, @11:41AM (1 child)
I assume the guy with fluffy hair from The History Channel is going to blame it on aliens now? They do have a legitimate space angle.
Probably something like, the shuttle was caught in an alien, extra terrestrial, unidentified flying object, spacecraft's interdimensional tunnel through the spacetime portal found in the bermuda triangle and crashed into the WWII bombers that were on their way to kill hitler. Which was the aliens true goal in shaping our civilization.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday November 14 2022, @03:31PM
I think on a more serious note, NASA could study this portion of the wreckage to potentially understand how to improve safety of future space shuttle launches.
How often should I have my memory checked? I used to know but...
(Score: 2) by drussell on Sunday November 13 2022, @11:45AM (3 children)
Anyone have any idea what section of the shuttle this find is?
Somewhere, I have a VHS with the news coverage from that evening, started recording when I got home from school and popped in a tape for posterity. I still remember the principal's voice breaking up a bit when he came on the PA to announce what had happened, especially since it was an educational tie-in flight, carrying the first "civilian" heading to space, so it was well hyped and kids everywhere were keenly aware of what was going on...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 13 2022, @12:38PM
No idea about the current find.
At the time the Challenger disaster was first reported I was on winter vacation, visiting a friend in LA (CA). I was helping him with his car building project and I heard the news on a car radio...while I was on a parts-chasing run.
He finally did complete the car (a trike) -- this one: https://web.archive.org/web/20200903202953/https://aquaflector.com/ev/sylph.jpg [archive.org]
(Score: 2) by mhajicek on Sunday November 13 2022, @05:10PM
I was staying home sick from school that day, watched it live.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 13 2022, @08:01PM