Remains of Space Shuttle Challenger found underwater

Explorers were traveling the Atlantic Ocean in search of World War II artifacts lost at sea when they stumbled upon something else – a 20-foot wreck of the Space Shuttle Challenger that exploded shortly after takeoff in 1986.

History Channel and NASA reported Thursday that the Challenger segment was discovered off the east coast of Florida while filming a new series called Bermuda Triangle: Into Cursed Waters. The series is set to premiere this month on the History channel.

The Challenger broke apart after launch on January 28, 1986, killing all seven crew members on board, including a teacher who was to be the first civilian in space. Television viewers, especially students in US schools, watched the live broadcast of the explosion that morning in horror.

“NASA is currently considering what additional action it can take on an artifact that will properly honor the memory of the fallen Challenger astronauts and the families who loved them,” the space agency said in a statement.

Mike Barnett, the underwater explorer who led the team that discovered the shuttle artifact, remembers watching the tragedy on television in his classroom. He called it “sobering” the realization that his team had found the wreckage of the spacecraft – the first piece of debris discovered since the wreckage of the shuttle washed ashore in 1996.