Divers found something unexpected at the bottom of the ocean linked to a national tragedy (VIDEO)

Divers were not expecting to find the wreckage of NASA’s spaceship‘Challenger’ which exploded just after liftoff in 1986, CNN reports.

The bottom of the ocean

The History Channelauthorised divers to search for remnants of a WWII battle plane for a new documentary.

The underwater expedition took place off the coast of Florida, but instead, divers found at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean a large part of the spaceship ‘Challenger’.

Doing the right thing

The fatal explosion left dead the crew of seven astronauts who were on board, in a day that has gone down in history as the ‘Space Shuttle Challenger disaster’, Global News reports.

In a statement last week NASA said it has analyzed the images and confirmed that the part does correspond to the ‘Challenger Spaceship’.

Michael Ciannilli, a NASA manager said that the discovery brings back sad emotions.

When he saw the underwater video footage, My heart skipped a beat, I must say, and it brought me right back to 1986 … and what we all went through as a nation.

Meanwhile, Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator remembered the seven brave astronauts who lost their lives aboard Challenger nearly 37 years ago.

This tragedy will forever be seared in the collective memory of our country. For millions around the globe, myself included, Jan. 28, 1986, still feels like yesterday. This discovery gives us an opportunity to pause once again, to uplift the legacies of the seven pioneers we lost, and to reflect on how this tragedy changed us.

Nelson, also reaffirms that the agency’s top priority after space exploration is safety itself.

At NASA, the core value of safety is – and must forever remain – our top priority, especially as our missions explore more of the cosmos than ever before.

The discovery of a large piece of the ‘Challenger’ off Florida’s seabed, comes after two parts of the spaceship's left wing washed ashore in 1996, Global News reports.

The piece still remains where it is, and NASA has not decided yet the next steps. According to Ciannilli, the right thing must be done.

We want to make sure whatever we do, we do the right thing for the legacy of the crew.

Meanwhile, the History Channelwill air a new documentary this month to remember the ‘Challenger’ Mission and showcase the recent discovery.

Sources used:

-CNN: ‘Watch divers discover Space Shuttle Challenger wreckage from 1986’

-Global News: ‘Divers uncover wreckage from destroyed Challenger space shuttle, NASA says’

-NASA: ‘NASA Views Images, Confirms Discovery of Shuttle Challenger Artifact’