One of the largest fragments of the spacecraft "Challenger" was found at the bottom of the ocean

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The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) examined images from the bottom

ocean and confirmed that they depicted a fragment of the Challenger shuttle.

What is known

Spaceship wreckage founda group of documentarians who are searching for the remains of aircraft from the Second World War. The found shuttle fragment, about 6 meters long, now belongs to the United States, but the federal agency does not yet know how to dispose of the find.

So far, only 107 tons of spacecraft debris have been found, which is less than half of its total mass, including boosters. Most of the fragments were buried at Cape Canaveral.

The disaster occurred on January 28, 1986 as part ofSTS-51L missions. The spacecraft was destroyed after the explosion of the external fuel tank in the second minute of flight. The crash killed seven astronauts, including teacher Christa McAuliffe. She won the "Teacher in Space" competition.