SpaceShipOne to go on public display: "The record-setting, privately-built suborbital rocket plane—SpaceShipOne—is headed for a landing at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum (NASM) in Washington, D.C.

"Designed and built by aerospace engineer, Burt Rutan and his Scaled Composites team in Mojave, California, SpaceShipOne made piloted back-to-back flights last year to snag the $10 million X Prize.

"SpaceShipOne is to be displayed in the museum's Milestones of Flight Gallery, said Peter Golkin, a NASM spokesman. That gallery exhibits some of the major firsts in aviation and space history.

"Rutan has advised SPACE.com that the scheduled handover to NASM of SpaceShipOne will first see the craft on public display at the Experimental Aircraft Association's (EAA) AirVenture 2005, held July 25-31 at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh, Wisconsin."