They Searched the Bermuda Triangle for a Legendary WWII Plane—and Found a Piece of the Challenger Instead

As you read this story, you will learn the following:

• The History Channel crew made an unexpected discovery while searching for old war debris in the Bermuda Triangle: the remains of a space shuttle challenger.

• NASA officials confirmed that the red and white tiles came from the spacecraft that exploded during takeoff on January 28, 1986.

• The discovery brings back memories of the seven missing astronauts and reinforces NASA’s commitment to modern safety policies.

An excited nation looked at the space shuttle with hope that quickly turned to shock challenger On January 28, 1986, it exploded just 73 seconds after liftoff. Unbeknownst to NASA engineers and crew at the time, the solid rocket booster had a fatal flaw that led to the disaster. All seven astronauts died, including Christa McAuliffe, who would have become the first teacher in space.

But in 2022, a History Channel television documentary crew unexpectedly discovered a large piece of the space shuttle in the Atlantic Ocean, where it had scattered debris 40 years earlier.

Crews were searching for the remains of a World War II-era aircraft in the Bermuda Triangle when they discovered space shuttle debris on the seafloor off the east coast of Florida. In particular, they saw 8-inch square tiles on clearly man-made construction.

The History Channel released video footage of two divers examining red and white tiles partially buried in the sand. Some appear to have deeper pockmarks.

“What do you think this is?” one of the divers asks the other in the video clip. “I’ve never seen anything like this on an airplane before.”

Based on the location and appearance of the wreckage, the crew contacted NASA and began a second dive to study the wreckage. NASA officials watching dive footage Confirmed It depicts an item from challenger.

An investigation months after the tragedy found that a cold front before launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, formed ice crystals on the shuttle. Freezing temperatures weakened the spacecraft’s rubber O-ring seals, causing hot gases to escape from segment joints in the solid rocket booster. At the time, some shuttle program employees raised concerns, but managers approved the launch the next morning.

“Nearly 37 years have passed since seven brave explorers perished on the ship challengerThis tragedy will forever be etched in our nation’s collective memory. For millions of people around the world, myself included, January 28, 1986 still feels like yesterday,” said then-NASA Administrator Bill Nelson In the 2022 press release. “This discovery gives us an opportunity to pause again, celebrate the legacy of the seven pioneers we lost, and reflect on how this tragedy has changed us. At NASA, the core value of safety is and must always be our top priority, especially as our missions explore more of the universe than ever before.”

This was not the last disaster of this magnitude for the space program. 2003, space shuttle Colombia It disintegrated upon re-entry, killing seven astronauts. The cause was a loose piece of insulating foam on the shuttle’s external propellant tank. The debris collided with the shuttle’s left wing shortly after liftoff and damaged protective tiles.

Since then, NASA has re-evaluated its risk assessment procedures. The agency now houses the Office of Security and Mission Assurance and “provides an environment where everyone can raise security concerns,” the agency said. NASA also created the Apollo Challenger Columbia Lessons Learned Program to share these lessons within the agency and with other government, public, commercial, and international audiences.

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