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.
The U.S. began extensive air and artillery strikes against Islamic State group targets in Syria on Dec. 19 in retaliation for the killing of three Americans on Dec. 13 by a gunman affiliated with ISIS, U.S. officials said.
