Researchers are heading to a remote Pacific island in hopes of solving one of history's greatest mysteries: what happened to Amelia Earhart.

The team from the U.S.-based Archaeological Legacy Institute and Purdue University is expected to reach Nikumaroro Island by Monday, the BBC reported. They want to inspect what has been called the Taraia Object, which they think could be wreckage from Earhart's plane.

The object was spotted underwater in the island's lagoon in satellite images about six years ago, Daily Sabah reported. If it turns out to be her twin-engine Lockheed Electra 10-E, it would strongly support a long-held theory about her fate.

Earhart was one of the most famous pilots of her time. She was the first woman to fly solo nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean, LADbible noted. In the summer of 1937, at age 39, she set out to become the first woman to fly around the world.

On July 2, 1937, Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, lost contact somewhere over the Pacific. They were never found. Her disappearance has led to decades of searches and theories.

One leading theory says she landed on Nikumaroro, then an uninhabited island, and died there as a castaway. Others believe her plane ran out of fuel and sank in the ocean.

Purdue has a long link to Earhart. She worked there as an adviser, and the university helped pay for the plane.

"Researchers believe they have a chance to bring 'closure'" to the mystery, LADbible reported. CBS News called it a mission to answer one of history's biggest questions.

What we know: A team from the Archaeological Legacy Institute and Purdue University is heading to Nikumaroro to inspect the Taraia Object.
What we don't: Whether the object is wreckage from Earhart's plane.