Shuttle Search Ship Diverted to Delta Study

Part of the space shuttle Challenger’s recovery fleet will be diverted to the search for the main engine section of the recently destroyed Delta rocket, NASA announced Tuesday.

The sudden shutdown of the Delta engine, 71 seconds after liftoff on Saturday, sent the rocket wildly off course and it had to be destroyed by a radio signal from the ground.

The $38-million rocket and a $57.5-million weather satellite were lost in the fiery accident. The debris fell into the Atlantic Ocean, near the area where as many as 18 ships have been searching for wreckage of the Challenger since it exploded on Jan. 28, killing its crew of seven.

All high-priority shuttle components have been retrieved, including parts of the crew compartment and segments of the right solid booster rocket that caused the explosion. Remains of the crew members have been recovered, and six ships are conducting mop-up operations.

One of the six, the Freedom Star, has been assigned to scour the ocean floor for the Delta main engine. If the ship’s sonar picks up a promising object, it will be investigated by the crew of a small submarine or by divers from another salvage vessel.

“Having the physical evidence of what caused the premature shutdown of the main engine during flight would be helpful in assuring ourselves that the inferences we are able to draw from telemetry and other sources are correct,” said Lawrence J. Ross, who heads the panel of eight investigators.