9. The Challenger and its crew were found in the ocean months later
No one who saw the Challenger explode had any doubts as to the fate of the 7 astronauts on board. Debris from the explosion continued to fall in the Atlantic Ocean for an hour afterward. Despite the prompt reaction of search and rescue teams, they couldn’t find any trace of the crew. A huge search began, covering 486 square nautical miles. On March, 7, divers from the USS Preserver found the crew compartment on the ocean floor. After so long in the Atlantic, the astronauts’ bodies were a gruesome sight, and autopsies thus proved inconclusive.