“It was just so burned into my brain.”īarnette and his team of investigators set off in March to search suspected shipwreck sites in the Bermuda Triangle, a swath of the northern Atlantic Ocean said to be the site of dozens of shipwrecks and plane crashes. “I can almost smell the smells of that day,” Barnette told CNN in a phone interview Thursday, referring to the day the Challenger exploded. Rare photos show the early years of NASA's space shuttle era The bad weather meant an additional day of delay in moving the shuttle to Florida. He called it “sobering” to realize that his team found a scrap from the spacecraft - the first debris to be discovered since pieces from the shuttle washed ashore in 1996.Ĭolumbia, mated to the SCA, heads toward the weight and balance hangar at Edwards on March 16, 1979, both to complete tile repairs and to protect the delicate tiles from an impending rainstorm. Mike Barnette, an underwater explorer who led the crew that found the shuttle artifact, remembers watching the tragedy on TV in his high school classroom. “NASA currently is considering what additional actions it may take regarding the artifact that will properly honor the legacy of Challenger’s fallen astronauts and the families who loved them,” the space agency said in a news release. TV viewers, especially students in schools across the US, watched a live broadcast of the blast in horror that morning. The Challenger broke apart after its launch on January 28, 1986, killing all seven crew members aboard, including a teacher was set to become the first civilian in space. The History Channel and NASA revealed Thursday that the Challenger segment was discovered off Florida’s east coast during the filming of a new series called “The Bermuda Triangle: Into Cursed Waters.” The series is set to premiere this month on the History Channel. NASA’s two shuttle accidents account for more than half of the names carved into the black granite of the Space Mirror Memorial plane crashes are to blame for the rest.Ī ship’s bell rang after each of the 25 names was read during last week's ceremony.ĪP's Maria Dunn contributed to this report.Explorers trudged the Atlantic Ocean searching for World War II artifacts lost at sea, but they stumbled on something else - a 20-foot-long piece of debris from the Space Shuttle Challenger, which was destroyed shortly after takeoff in 1986. This year, more than 100 people gathered under a gray sky at Kennedy Space Center to remember not only Columbia’s crew of seven, but the 18 other astronauts killed in the line of duty. At space centers across the country, flags were lowered to half-staff, with ceremonies held. 1, 2003.īecause of the clustering of these three dates, NASA sets aside the last Thursday of every January to commemorate its fallen astronauts. 28, 1986, killing all seven aboard, and shuttle Columbia was destroyed during reentry on Feb. Shuttle Challenger broke apart during liftoff on Jan. The Apollo 1 launch pad fire claimed three astronauts' lives on Jan. NASA COMMEMORATES FALLEN ASTRONAUTS ON THE LAST THURSDAY OF EVERY JANUARY The Forest Service also installed a new plaque with information about the shuttle disaster. Now, they've been joined by two more trees to honor two Forest Service pilots who died in a helicopter crash during the search for debris. Seven trees were planted there to honor Columbia's crew. On Wednesday, it held a memorial in Nacogdoches. The Texas A&M Forest Service played a critical role in the recovery mission. TEXAS A&M MARKS ANNIVERSARY WITH TREE PLANTING Chambers also retired from the FBI and is a police captain in the small East Texas town of Lindale. "That's the best I can do, just helping them bring each other home," Chambers said.
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