Rocket That May Hold 14 Tons of Fuel Found by Navy on Ocean Floor

An unfired satellite rocket booster from the cargo bay of the space shuttle Challenger has been found on the ocean floor about 18 miles from Cape Canaveral, leaving Navy salvage experts with the potential job of recovering up to nearly 14 tons of rocket fuel.

The rocket was to have lifted a $100-million communications satellite from the shuttle to an orbit 22,300 miles above the Earth. It was blown away from the Challenger during the explosion.

A 214-foot Navy salvage ship, Preserver, was on the scene in stormy seas Saturday.

Condition Unknown

The condition of the powerful rocket was unknown, but images produced by sonar scanners showed that the rocket is at least intact enough for experts to identify it with a “high degree of confidence,” Navy Cmdr. Arthur E. Norton, spokesman for the Navy salvage effort, said Saturday.

When asked if the Navy considers the rocket hazardous, Norton replied: “Definitely.”

Aboard the salvage ship are 22 Navy divers, some of whom are demolition experts. But the severe weather conditions, including torrential rains, strong winds and a tornado alert, hampered efforts to photograph the debris in 100-foot-deep water.

The 16-foot-tall National Aeronautics and Space Administration rocket was designed to blast the 5,000-pound payload from the shuttle’s low Earth orbit to geosynchronous orbit where its velocity would match the rotational speed of the Earth, leaving it in a fixed position over the surface. It is powered in two stages, using 27,400 pounds of solid rocket fuel such as that used in the twin boosters that lift the shuttle from the pad.

Worst Disaster

The Challenger’s right booster is the prime suspect in the search for what caused the spacecraft’s external fuel tank to explode Jan. 28, killing all seven crew members in the worst disaster in the history of manned space exploration. What is left of the shuttle’s own boosters is believed to be several miles farther out to sea from the satellite rocket.

It may be several days before it is known if the fuel in the satellite rocket was burned in the fireball that engulfed the Challenger at the time of the explosion or if the wreckage includes both stages of the rocket.

Although solid rocket fuel is designed to burn, not explode, it is not known how stable the fuel is now. The satellite also carried an igniter to set the rocket off 45 minutes after it was released from the shuttle’s cargo bay and many explosive devices used to separate the various components of the system.

“We treat it as a very hazardous situation,” said Jim Mizell, a retired NASA engineer. “What it takes is a spark. A spark would be like a fuse, even underwater, and that thing would go.”

Satellite Probably Destroyed

The satellite itself was relatively fragile and was probably destroyed in either the explosion or on impact with the water.

Divers will not know the status of all the components until they photograph the wreckage extensively.

Even without the rocket fuel, the recovery of the Challenger’s wreckage could prove dangerous, Norton said.

“Diving is always very hazardous,” he said, “especially when you’re looking at potentially jagged objects in murky water.”

The satellite rocket was found by drones equipped with “side-scan sonar.” Such drones are towed behind search ships, and they dive deep below the surface to escape the effect of the towing vessel’s wake. By tracking back and forth at different depths, the sonar allows surface personnel to “look” both from above and alongside the target. The data that is gathered can be used to create a three-dimensional image of whatever the sonar “sees.”

“You get a reasonably good visual graphic,” Norton said.

Crews Diverted

Concern over the rocket was strong enough to divert salvage crews away from what has been described as their most pressing assignment--recovery of the shuttle’s boosters to see if they can offer any clues about what caused the tragedy.

Recovery of the debris is expected to take several weeks and will be handled primarily by Navy salvage experts aboard the Preserver, which will be working with NASA ships that are designed to recover shuttle boosters after they splash down in the Atlantic after each launch.

Aside from the hazard, recovery of the satellite rocket could prove herculean. The Preserver can lift objects from the ocean floor weighing up to 10 tons, but if the rocket is in one piece, it could weigh more than 16 tons, even without the satellite it was to boost.

The Preserver was designed primarily for salvage work, and it has taken part in many celebrated operations all over the world. Built in 1943, the ship has participated in operations ranging from the search for the ill-fated submarine Thresher to clearing the Suez Canel in 1974.