Long lost memorabilia from the space shuttle Challenger has finally been recovered after being missing for 36 years after the spacecraft's explosion during launch in 1986, the online news outlet CollectSpace reported. A small American flag and a crew patch attached to a plaque and inscribed with "Ronald Reagan, President of the United States" are now being studied at the Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, California.
After the process is complete, the artefacts are set to be handed over to the National Archives and Records Administration as per American law, the outlet said. However, it is expected to make an appearance at the Reagan Presidential Library at a later date as an exhibit.
The memorabilia was supposed to be gifted to then US President Ronald Reagan (hence the inscription on the plaque) after a successful mission, but was lost in the chaos that ensued after the Challenger exploded at the 73rd second of the flight on 28 January 1986. The disappearance of the artefacts remains a mystery and the only thing known is that they ended up in the hands of late James Foster Fanseen, who died in 2000, CollectSpace says.
Two decades after Fanseen's death, his relatives put his possessions up for auction, including the plaque and a NASA lithograph of the Challenger's final crew for $3,000 and $5,000 respectively. However, before the lots were sold, Gray's Auctioneers co-founder Serena Harragin managed to contact the Reagan Presidential Library to consult on their finding, eventually withdrawing one of the lots.
"They were actually very excited. They thought it was wonderful that something that had been lost to the public was possibly going to be available again", Harragin said.