A piece of the space shuttle Columbia, which broke apart and burned on re-entry more than eight years ago, has been found in a lake, NASA officials said.
Wreckage from shuttle Columbia was uncovered in East Texas this week, the result of a prolonged drought lowering water levels in a lake.
The spherical tank, which is about four feet in diameter, is stuck in the mud alongside Lake Nacogdoches.
More than 40 tons of wreckage rained down on a long swath of East Texas and Louisiana as Columbia disintegrated during its atmospheric re-entry in February 2003, killing all seven astronauts.
The debris, which was found, is thought to be either a liquid hydrogen or liquid oxygen tank.
The aluminum tank was part of the shuttle's electrical power distribution system. Now full of mud.
About 40 percent of the shuttle has been recovered since the accident.
