Petition drive aims to get Ohio shuttle

WASHINGTON, Oct. 26 (UPI) -- An Ohio businessman wants one of the retired space shuttles to go on display at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force near Dayton.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration announced in April the shuttles will go to California, Florida, New York City and Washington.

John Cavanaugh told the Dayton Daily News almost 5,500 people had signed a petition on the White House Web site by Tuesday afternoon. When the "We The People" site was set up in September, the White House said 5,000 signatures would be enough to trigger a review of a decision.

Cavanaugh said he would like the shuttle destined for the Intrepid Air, Sea and Space Museum in New York to go to the Air Force museum. Officials at the Intrepid museum say the shuttle will be in a separate facility instead of the retired aircraft carrier but have not yet acquired the property.