posted 11-10-2022 12:15 PM               

History Channel team finds large piece of space shuttle Challenger on ocean floor

One the largest pieces of NASA's fallen space shuttle Challenger has been discovered on the ocean floor by a TV documentary team searching for a downed World War II aircraft.

The artifact, which today remains where it was found by the crew filming The History Channel's new series "The Bermuda Triangle: Into Cursed Waters," was positively identified by NASA based upon the item's modern construction and presence of 8-inch square thermal protection (heat shield) tiles. The segment of Challenger was found in waters off Florida's Space Coast, well northwest of the area popularly known as the Bermuda Triangle.

posted 11-22-2022 12:00 AM               

How the search for a downed plane led to a fallen space shuttle and vice versa

In the wake of the 1986 space shuttle Challenger tragedy, a major search and salvage effort was organized to find the sunken wreckage of the fallen NASA spacecraft. In the course of six months, 187 pieces of the shuttle were identified and all but 20 were raised off the ocean floor.

In searching for Challenger, the recovery teams also found the sites of 13 shipwrecks, 13 debris fields from other rocket launches and two downed aircraft. Among the latter was the remains of what was initially thought to be a World War II-era Douglas DC-3 but was later identified to be a Grumman TBF Avenger...

posted 10-19-2025 11:56 AM               

In 2022, Michael Barnette and Jimmy Gadomski embarked on an expedition to scour the ocean floor for the wreckage of Flight 19 — five US Navy torpedo bombers lost in a 1945 training mission and the rescue plane sent out to find them. What they found was something much more unexpected: a 20-foot fragment of the Space Shuttle Challenger.

This rare find, confirmed by NASA, marked the first major Challenger artifact recovered in more than 25 years. From first dive to expert verification, their incredible story weaves together naval aviation mystery, space tragedy, ocean exploration, and forensic history.

Hear from Barnette and Gadomski, explorers featured in the History Channel’s series The Bermuda Triangle: Into Cursed Waters, as they recount their expedition and what these findings mean for the legacy of Flight 19, space history, and the mysteries of the deep sea.