![]() ![]() ![]() The debris represented 47 percent of the orbiter Challenger, 33 percent of the external tank, 50 percent of the two solid rocket boosters and between 40 and 95 percent of the mission's three primary payloads (an inertial upper stage, a tracking and data relay satellite and an astronomical tool to observe Halley's Comet).Īfter being analyzed to learn what caused the failure, the wreckage was placed into two silos - Complex 31 and 32 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (now Space Force Station) - each 78 feet deep by 12 feet in diameter (24 by 4 m), which had previously supported Minuteman missiles up until 1970. The operation involved thousands of people, 16 surface vessels, a nuclear-powered research submarine and several robotic and crewed submersibles systematically inspecting more than 486 square nautical miles (1,666 sq km) of ocean floor in depths ranging from 10 to over 1,200 feet (3 to 365 m).Īfter seven months, 167 pieces of the shuttle, weighing 118 tons, were recovered. NASA's STS-51L crew, including commander Francis "Dick" Scobee, pilot Mike Smith, mission specialists Ron McNair, Ellison Onizuka and Judy Resnik, payload specialist Greg Jarvis and Teacher-in-Space Christa McAuliffe were killed in the aftermath of the malfunction.Ī major search and salvage effort was organized in the wake of the tragedy, the largest ever conducted by the U.S. The space shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its 10th launch after seals in one of the vehicle's two solid rocket boosters failed. For millions around the globe, myself included, Jan. "While it has been nearly 37 years since seven daring and brave explorers lost their lives aboard Challenger, this tragedy will forever be seared in the collective memory of our country. "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," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in a statement issued on Thursday (Nov. The segment of Challenger was found in waters off Florida's Space Coast, well northwest of the area popularly known as the Bermuda Triangle. The artifact, which today remains where it was found by the crew filming The History Channel's new series "The Bermuda Triangle: Into Cursed Waters," was positively identified by NASA based upon the item's modern construction and presence of 8-inch square thermal protection (heat shield) tiles. ![]() One the largest pieces of NASA's fallen space shuttle Challenger has been discovered on the ocean floor by a TV documentary team searching for a downed World War II aircraft. ![]()
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