The wreckage of the shuttle Challenger was found at the bottom of the Atlantic

An unexpected discovery. Divers searching for the remains of a missing plane in the Bermuda Triangle have instead found part of the Space Shuttle Challenger.

In 1986, this shuttle exploded a few tens of seconds after takeoff in Florida, killing seven crew members. This segment, remarkably preserved at the bottom of the Atlantic, is one of the largest fragments found since this tragedy, NASA confirmed on Thursday.

Footage of their discovery, taken in the spring of 2022, shows two divers, surrounded by fish, showing off the shuttle’s heat shields. These little black squares covered the entire underside of the ship so it could withstand the heat of re-entry.

One of the two divers, Mike Barnett, said he experienced an “emotional rollercoaster” when he realized what he was touching. “I used to dive around sunken ships that are tens and even hundreds of years old, but not the wreckage of the shuttle! The exact location of the find is not disclosed so as not to attract the curious, but is located not far from the coast.

“When (the accident) happened, I remember exactly where I was and watched it live on TV,” he recalled. After the dive, he shows the pictures he took to an astronaut friend who confirms his discovery. Then, a few months later, NASA confirmed that it was indeed the Space Shuttle Challenger. “They were amazed at the size of the piece,” he says.

“One of the greatest items ever found”

The visible part is approximately 4.5 m by 4.5. But this chunk is buried under the sand, so we don’t know its total size at this time. It would be “very easy” for NASA to remove a piece from the water, the researcher said, but such a gesture could also “open wounds.”

Discussions are ongoing, said Mike Ciannilli, a NASA employee for over 25 years. But “whatever we do, our main goal is to honor the memory and legacy of the crew and their families.” One thing’s for sure: “It’s one of the largest ever found,” said Mike Ciannilli, who says it’s still difficult to determine exactly which part of the ship the piece belongs to.

The causes of the tragedy have indeed already been established (the joints froze the night before). Watching materials age can still be interesting.

After the accident on January 28, 1986, extensive work was carried out to find parts of the ship. Ten years later, two new ones appeared on the beach after a storm. These were the last found so far. Only one piece is on display at a memorial open to the public at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, with the rest stored nearby.