The accident is one of the greatest tragedies in international space travel: in 1986, shortly after takeoff, the “Challenger” space shuttle bursts into a thousand pieces. The crew of seven dies. 36 years later, divers off Florida’s coasts come across an unknown piece of debris – and inform NASA.
Remains of the Challenger space shuttle that crashed in 1986 have been found on the seabed off Florida’s east coast. An object filmed during a dive has been identified by NASA as part of the Challenger, the US space agency said. Accordingly, divers who were actually looking for the wreckage of a World War II plane for a TV documentary came across a large, partly sand-covered object. The proximity to the space center on Florida’s east coast and the artifact’s modern-looking construction prompted the film crew to notify NASA of its discovery.
The Challenger accident is one of the worst accidents in international space history. The Challenger completed several successful spaceflights, completing a total of 987 orbits. On January 28, 1986, the space shuttle exploded and broke apart just 73 seconds after its launch from Kennedy Space Center due to a malfunction at an altitude of about 15 kilometers. The crew of seven – two women and five astronauts – died.
The US broadcaster History Channel will report on the discovery in a series about the Bermuda Triangle. Regardless, NASA said the wreckage was found in the waters of Florida’s so-called Space Coast – well northwest of the Atlantic sea area known for mysterious ship disappearances.
