Florida Wants Space Investment: Florida Gov. Jeb Bush wants $55 million from the state legislature to keep the state competitive in the space arena, the Tallahassee Democrat reports. NASA plans to retire the space shuttle fleet around 2010, and there is no guarantee that the next space launch vehicle(s) would call Florida home. Bush would use approximately $35 million of the budget request to renovate buildings to house shuttle-replacement Crew Exploration Vehicle operations.
An Air Force F-16 pilot designed a collapsible ladder that weighs just six pounds and folds into the unused cockpit map case.