Shuttle Debris Moved for Burial

The somber job of hauling Challenger’s wreckage to a pair of abandoned missile silos for what amounts to permanent burial began today, three weeks shy of the first anniversary of the shuttle’s destruction.

Wreckage from Challenger’s two solid-fuel rocket boosters eventually will be lowered into the silo at Launch Complex 31. The shuttle’s crew cabin, forward fuselage and some payload components will be housed in two underground equipment rooms adjacent to the launch tube by the time work is completed in late February or early March.