Space shuttle Challenger fragment found on ocean floor

On Thursday, November 10, NASA Kennedy Space Center announced that a large fragment of the Space Shuttle Challenger has been found.

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A large section of the destroyed space shuttle Challenger was found at the bottom of the Atlantic by a History Channel research team. Thirty-six years after the disaster, fragments of the destroyed vehicle were located by divers buried in sand at the bottom of the Atlantic.

Of course the emotions are coming back, aren’t they? My heart started beating faster and I must say it transported me back to 1986… and what we all went through as a nation – said Michael Ciannilli, the NASA manager who confirmed the authenticity of the found remains documented in the video.

According to media reports in the US, this is the largest piece of the Challenger space shuttle found after the disaster. This is the first time parts of the shuttle have been found since two fragments from the left wing were washed ashore by the sea in 1996.

Divers making footage for the documentary first noticed the fragments in March. At the time, they were looking for the wreckage of a World War II-era aircraft and did not expect to make such an unusual discovery instead. Later, based on the video documentation they collected, NASA experts confirmed that it was part of the Challenger shuttle. The crash, which occurred shortly after liftoff on January 28, 1986, killed the entire seven-member crew.

The fragment found measures 4.5 meters by 4.5 meters, although it is probably larger because part of it is hidden under the sand. Square thermal tiles suggest it came from the underside of the shuttle.

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