Six Reportedly Identified : Remains of All 7 Victims of Shuttle Believed Found

More than two weeks after Challenger’s crew cabin was found submerged in the Atlantic, military forensics experts are working to complete the grim task of identifying its seven crew members and ascertaining how they met their deaths.

After three trips into the murky waters, divers from the salvage ship Preserver are believed to have recovered remains from all seven crew members, and full identifications have been made on six of them, a source said Tuesday.

Mitsui Onizuka, mother of Lt. Col. Ellison S. Onizuka, said NASA informed the family this week of the identification.

Not Releasing Them

“I guess they found my son’s remains, but NASA is not officially releasing them to me until they’ve finished with their work,” she said.

Mary McNair, sister-in-law of mission specialist Ronald E. McNair, said NASA officials told the family “that there has been a positive identification.”

“We haven’t heard anything since then,” she said.

Officials of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration say that, out of consideration for the families, they will make no announcement about the crew until recovery of the cockpit is complete--a process that is expected to take several more days.

May Last Several Weeks

Complete forensic tests needed to determine how the crew members died may not be completed for several weeks. Most officials closest to the investigation of the Jan. 28 disaster say it is doubtful that any of them survived the initial explosion at an altitude of nearly nine miles.

Meanwhile, a dispute was brewing over what state would file death certificates for the crew.

Oliver Boorde, Florida state registrar, said certificates under state law are supposed to be filed within 48 hours of the discovery of any remains, with provisions for an extension of five days.

“Should they have been filed by now? I would think so. Why haven’t they been? I don’t know,” Boorde said.

May Be Filed in Texas

One state health official, who asked not to be identified, said there were reports that NASA planned to file the certificates in Texas, home of the Johnson Space Center.

“I would be curious to know who the hell in Texas thinks he has authority in a case 2,000 miles away,” the official said. “It just isn’t supported by the law.”

The Texas state registrar said no certificates have been filed there. But John Lawrence, a NASA spokesman in Houston, confirmed that the agency’s flight surgeon there had signed death certificates two days after the disaster.

“They were employees of this facility, and this facility was in charge of the mission at the time of the accident,” he said.

Boorde said he was not certain whether Florida officials would attempt to challenge the certificates, particularly because they apparently have not been officially filed.