January 28, 1986: Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster

Today marks the 25th anniversary of the Challenger disaster. On January 28, 1986, at 11:39 am EST (approximately one minute after liftoff), the Challenger spacecraft disintegrated off the coast of central Florida. The crew consisted of Commander Francis R. Scobee, Pilot Michael J. Smith, Mission Specialists Judith A. Resnick, Ellison S. Onizuka, Ronald E. McNair, Payload Specialists Gregory B. Jarvis and Sharon Christa McAuliffe. Christa McAuliffe was a school teacher who was selected as the primary candidate for the NASA Teacher in Space Project on July 19, 1985.

Challenger STS 51-L Accident
NASA History Program Office

Report of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident
(Volumes 1-5)

Investigation of the Challenger Accident
Report of the Committee on Science and Technology
House of Representatives (99th Congress)

Investigation of the Challenger Accident
Volume 1
Volume 2
Hearings before the Committee on Science and Technology
House of Representatives (99th Congress)

A New Day: Challenger and Spaceflight Thereafter
National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Post-Challenger Evaluation of Space Shuttle Risk Assessment and Management
Committee on Shuttle Criticality Review and Hazard Analysis Audit
National Research Council

Space Shuttle Challenger Explosion
Federal Bureau of Investigation






Sonnet Ireland
Head of Federal Documents
Reference & Instruction Librarian
Subject Specialist: Legal Research, Political Science
Urban Studies, Engineering

Nancy Pelosi Hands Over Control of the 112th House of Representatives to John Boehner (1/5/2011)

Sonnet Ireland
Head of Federal Documents
Reference & Instruction Librarian
Subject Specialist: Legal Research, Political Science
Urban Studies, Engineering

Stephen Colbert Takes on the House

A nice, fun Friday post--Stephen Colbert testifies on immigration before a House Judiciary subcommittee--in character.

Sonnet Ireland
Head of Federal Documents
Reference & Instruction Librarian
Subject Specialist: Legal Research, Political Science
Earth & Environmental Sciences, Engineering

200 U.S. Hearings Digitized!

Today, the Earl K. Long Library hit 200 hearings in our new online collection of U.S. House and Senate Committee Hearings and Publications.  This collection is free and open to the public.  We have been working to digitize older hearings that are in our online catalog but are not available online...until now!  The hearings are fully indexed.  

Special thanks to Digital Initiatives Librarian, Keith Pickett, my partner in crime.  He's the gentleman who has been patiently scanning these documents for your enjoyment.  He's also the one who created the cool GPO/PDF logo that links to each document.

So, we beg of you...please take the time to peruse this collection and click, click, click to your heart's content.

Sonnet Erin Brown
Head of Federal Documents
Reference & Instruction Librarian
Subject Specialist: Legal Research, Political Science
Earth & Environmental Sciences, Philosophy

House Passes American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

The House of Representatives has passed the final conference report on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (246-183). The 183 against was comprised of all the Republicans in the House, as well as 7 Democrats. Now it is up to the Senate.


Federal News Radio Article


Sonnet Erin Brown
Federal Documents Librarian
Subject Specialist: Political Science/Paralegal Studies