First Private Spaceship Installed at Smithsonian
The first private spaceship took its place at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum next to Charles Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis, a hoped-for symbol of a new era of space tourism alongside the icon of trans-Atlantic flight.
SpaceShipOne’s designer, Burt Rutan, and its financier, Microsoft Corp. cofounder Paul Allen, were on hand as the museum took ownership of the 28-foot star-spangled spacecraft.
A year ago, Rutan and Allen captured the $10-million Ansari X Prize when SpaceShipOne dashed to the edge of space twice in five days. The prize was aimed at encouraging space tourism. Rutan has a deal with British entrepreneur Richard Branson to build a fleet of passenger spacecraft.
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