SpaceShipOne Inducted Into Museum

The world's first privately funded spacecraft, SpaceShipOne, was officially placed on display yesterday at the National Aerospace Museum in Washington, D.C.

In a ceremony attended by Burt Rutan, the ship's primary designer, and other dignitaries involved in the two successful private missions last year to send a man into space, SpaceShipOne joined the ranks of dozens of other aerospace vehicles of note in the history of flight. Rutan's efforts won his team the X Prize, a million-dollar award given to the first private organization to send astronauts into suborbital flight. The SpaceShipOne team included Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen, whose financial backing help make the missions possible.

For more information, see this link.