Wreckage of Challenger Being Stored by NASA

Nearly a year after the space shuttle Challenger exploded, workers Thursday began storing the wreckage in old missile silos and abandoned underground buildings near the launch site.

A large crane lowered crates containing pieces of the orbiter through an opening in the roof of one of the buildings after two flatbed trucks transported the first load of debris to the deactivated Minuteman missile test site.

The orbiter and payload wreckage will be stored in the four buildings. Later, pieces of the external fuel tank and the solid fuel booster rocket casings will be lowered into the two 78-foot-deep silos, officials said.

“The first few days we’re going to be moving the small components that we’ve boxed,” project manager Elliot Kicklighter said. “They contain orbiter, payload-type items. That ought to take about a week and then we’ll get to (bigger) components.”

Large Pieces to Be Cut

About 35 pieces of debris are too large to fit in the storage sites and will be cut into smaller pieces. NASA officials said all such cutting will be carefully monitored and no potential evidence about the accident will be destroyed.

The wreckage, recovered from the Atlantic Ocean, had been laid out in three buildings where it was examined by accident experts for clues to the explosion that occurred 73 seconds after liftoff last Jan. 28. Before it was packed, technicians catalogued every piece of debris.

The explosion killed all seven crew members. Investigators placed the blame on a faulty joint between segments of one of the booster rockets.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration announced in October that it planned to use the Minuteman facility, which includes four equipment and electrical supply buildings, to store the Challenger wreckage. It is located at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, five miles from the launch area.

The facility has been idle since the Minuteman research program ended in 1970.

2 1/2-Month Task

Officials said it would take about 2 1/2 months to complete the transfer of the 235,480 pounds of debris. When the job is done, 10,000-pound concrete caps will seal the silos and the buildings will be locked.

The smaller shuttle parts are packed in crates, while larger pieces are stored on pallets. Each package is marked so that parts can be retrieved if they are needed in connection with litigation or further investigation, officials said.

The storage project was to have begun Monday, but was delayed until the plan was reviewed by the Justice Department and NASA’s general counsel.