Divers Apparently Recover Remains of Astronaut; May Be Last of Missing Crew

Salvage crews apparently have recovered astronaut remains, possibly those of the last of the seven crew members killed, along with more shuttle wreckage from the crash site of Challenger’s crew compartment.

Body parts of six astronauts have been identified by military pathologists in recent weeks, with most of the remains coming from a mound of sunken crew-cabin debris found off the coast of Cape Canaveral.

But space agency sources said the remains of one of the fallen astronauts have eluded discovery in the murky depths of the Atlantic. The astronaut was not named.

A robot submarine and Navy divers were back working at the crew module crash site when a radioman aboard the salvage ship G.W. Pierce was heard referring to “Tom O’Malley” in transmissions monitored from shore.

The code-name had been used earlier in radio communications by salvage crews apparently to signal the discovery of astronaut remains, sources said.

The G.W. Pierce arrived in port late Tuesday and tied up at a Navy submarine pier. Radio traffic from sea earlier in the day indicated that Coast Guard divers had found human remains in the area of the cabin crash site.

NASA will not discuss any aspects of the crew module salvage operation or the identification of crew members, but an ambulance was ordered to the pier Tuesday night to meet the Pierce.

Several men unloaded what appeared to be a large, rectangular, box-shaped container and carried it on board the ship. About five minutes later, they carried it off and loaded it into the ambulance, which left the area under escort by Air Force security.

Crew module wreckage was discovered five weeks ago in 100 feet of water 16 miles offshore, prompting an intensive salvage operation that resulted in recovery of most of the wreckage.

Sources said salvage experts had all but written off the chance of finding any significant additional debris, but NASA had refused to call off the search because some remains of one astronaut had eluded recovery.

The work may have paid off Tuesday, but the space agency will not confirm or deny such reports and there was no sign of when NASA will release any of the remains for burial.