Winds Hamper Search for Crew of Lost Shuttle

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — Searchers battled strong winds and high seas Monday in an attempt to recover the battered crew compartment of the space shuttle Challenger and the remains of its astronauts. Some of the remains were reported to have been brought ashore secretly Saturday night.

Officials at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration refused to confirm the report. But Navy spokeswoman Lt. Cmdr. Deborah Burnett said that the Navy ship Preserver, whose divers identified the remains Saturday morning, returned to shore at 8:45 p.m. Saturday and unloaded debris, including a piece of an old Titan missile. She declined to say whether remains were also brought on shore.

Debris Unloaded

CBS reported Monday that the ship, returning to port without using its regular running lights, was met by top shuttle managers, three flatbed trucks and an enclosed van staffed by workers in white smocks. Debris was unloaded throughout the night.

NASA officials, citing concern for the families of the crew, consistently refused Monday to discuss recovery of the remains, found in the broken crew compartment in 100 feet of water 18 miles northeast of the space center.

Experts from the Washington-based Armed Forces Institute of Pathology were believed to have examined the remains Monday at Patrick Air Force Base, about 25 miles south of here.

Their examination is expected to determine how and when the astronauts died--from the fiery explosion nine miles above the earth or on impact with the water. The compartment would have hit the water at a speed of several hundred miles an hour.

The analysis may also determine whether the crew members were killed by flying debris or died of poisonous fumes, the fire or sudden loss of pressure.

Officials hope the analysis may provide evidence that could lead to new shuttle designs to protect lives in the future. Some experts already have argued that the shuttle should be redesigned to make escape of the crew possible during the first few minutes after liftoff.

Located within the crew compartment are lockers containing the members’ personal belongings, computer tapes that record temperature and pressure data, and two small tape recorders that could have picked up conversation that was not transmitted to ground controllers.

NASA spokesman Jim Mizell said efforts will be made to recover all of the equipment. He noted, however, that none of the tapes were protected from shock or exposure to the environment.

Damage Expected

“It would be very unusual for anything to be in very good shape,” Mizell said. “I don’t think any of that stuff would tell you what occurred during the explosion itself. But it could be valuable for engineering purposes to determine whether there was any data that was not radioed back.”

Winds of up to 20 knots and 10-foot waves hampered the recovery efforts throughout the afternoon. A 10-foot by 7-foot section of the left solid rocket booster was hoisted from depths of 210 feet about 32 miles offshore about 2 p.m. An hour later, all divers were ordered to stay onboard vessels because of the rough conditions. By 8 p.m., several vessels, including the Preserver, had to return to port and NASA officials predicted equally hazardous conditions for today.

So far, about 10% of the shuttle has been recovered. The search area spans 350 square nautical miles. Two-thirds of it has already been probed by scan sonars.

Investigators believe the Jan. 28 explosion was triggered by a leak of gas and flames from the right solid rocket booster.

On board at launch were Commander Francis (Dick) Scobee, pilot Michael J. Smith, mission specialists Judith A. Resnik, Ellison S. Onizuka and Ronald E. McNair, commercial satellite engineer Gregory Jarvis and Sharon Christa McAuliffe, a New Hampshire high school teacher and the first private citizen to fly on a shuttle.