Really Major InfestationCall the 910th: There is only one unit in the Defense Department that has full-time, fixed-wing aerial spray capability—Air Force Reserve Command’s 910th Airlift Wing, Youngstown, Ohio. The unit has sent two specially equipped C-130s and 50 crew members to Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi to knock out the mosquitoes and filth flies proliferating since Katrina came through the area. Such pests carry a host of diseases. The Reservists are flying out of Duke Field, Fla., and can cover 60,000 acres per C-130 each day.
NASA, SpaceX, and United Launch Alliance are all preparing to launch their next-gen rockets from Florida’s Space Coast, two of them before the year is out. One is expected to liberate the U.S. launch enterprise from its reliance on Russian-made RD-180 engines, while all three rockets could eventually carry astronaut crews.