That two-ton section is undergoing analysis by investigators trying to determine what caused the explosion. In addition to wrapping up recovery from the crew compartment site, salvage crews last week recovered a burned-out section of the solid-fuel booster that includes the joint that ruptured and led to the explosion of the spacecraft on Jan. ''We have recovered enough significant debris, and we have completed sonar soundings,'' said Commander Burnette. Burnette of the Navy, the spokesman for salvage operations here, said that searchers were scaling back the number of ships and personnel involved in the salvage operation. Corrigan denied a broadcast by CBS News that his sister's remains had not yet been identified. In recent weeks, members of the families of the six other astronauts have told reporters that NASA has either informed them that remains have been positively identified, or that they would be released for burial late this month or in early May.Īmong those was Chris Corrigan, the brother of Christa McAuliffe, the teacher who was to be the first ordinary person to fly in space. Jarvis, who was apparently the last of the astronauts to be accounted for, that his remains also had been positively identified.Įllen Jarvis of Orlando, Fla., the astronaut's stepmother, said that the telephone call ''wasn't the most pleasant news, but it's better to know than not know,'' adding, ''At least it's closer to when it all can be over.'' On Thursday, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration notified the family of the payload specialist, Gregory B. However, some officials took issue with that conclusion. The reports on the identification of the remains came as an aerospace magazine said there were indications that the astronauts might have been alive in the craft's 8.9-mile plunge into the ocean. The remains of all seven of the Challenger astronauts have apparently been identified and the space agency is nearing the completion of recovery operations at the site of the shattered crew compartment.ĭivers scouring the ocean floor where the shuttle's crew compartment containing the remains of the crew was discovered six weeks ago reported today that they were making a ''final cleanup'' of the area, according to radio transmissions from search ships involved in the salvage operation.
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