Piece of the Space Shuttle Challenger Found
Some of the Space Shuttle Challenger crew (source: NASA)
Divers working on a History Channel documentary on the supposed Bermuda Triangle have found a very real wreck, a piece of the Space Shuttle Challenger. The shuttle exploded just over a minute after launch in 1986, killing all on board and striking a devastating blow to the shuttle program. Much of the wreckage was initially recovered, but given the explosion happened over open water, not all of the ship has been located.
This recent discovery is the first time in twenty five years that a piece of the Challenger has been found. In the wake of the disaster, NASA worked in tandem with the U.S. Navy to search for the wreck. Over the course of seven months, pieces of the shuttle were recovered, including the remains of the crew, but much of the shuttle was simply lost. In 1996, two pieces of the wreck washed ashore on Cocoa Beach, Florida, twenty miles from where the explosion took place.
It was thought that the rest of the Challenger was lost forever, until this recent discovery. The piece of the shuttle remains on the ocean floor while NASA weighs the possibility of attempting to raise the craft. For now it remains a reminder of the seven lives that were lost on that fateful day, and the ill-fated journey into space that ended in disaster.
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