*See video below*
Twenty-four years after the Challenger disaster, new footage of the shuttle's catastrophic explosion has surfaced, depicting the space shuttle's disintegration over the Atlantic Ocean.
On January 28th, 1986, Jack Moss recorded a video of the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger from the street of his neighborhood in Winter Gardens, Florida, just 80 miles from Cape Canaveral.
The video (see below) shows Moss, his wife, and a neighbor awaiting the Challenger's blast off. Forty seconds into the video, the space shuttle is seen appearing over the top of the trees. Moss is heard stating, "That's brighter than usual."
At fifty four seconds into the tape, the vapor stream from the shuttle suddenly splits in two.
Moss's video is thought to be the only amateur footage of the launch as video cameras were still rare. Shortly before he died this past December, Moss donated the footage to the Space Exploration Archive in Louisville, Kentucky. Marc Wessels, executive director of the archive told the Telegraph,
"It's just a totally different angle from the many videos and photos shot of the Challenger that day from beside the launch pad at Cape Canaveral .... My idea is to get it out there in the public domain. Jack donated it so we could educate people about space."
The Challenger space shuttle exploded 73 seconds after take off due to a failed O-ring seal on its right solid rocket booster. All seven crew members were killed and NASA's space fleet was grounded for two and a half years following the disaster.
See Moss's video, as well as CNN's footage of the Challenger explosion, below.
WATCH: