Aviation, Space, museums

SpaceShipOne Replica Arrives at Paul Allen’s Hangar

Gregory T. Huang 1/14/09

Paul Allen just got a new addition to his Flying Heritage Collection of vintage aircraft. Yesterday, the Paine Field facility in Everett, WA, held a media event in which the museum hoisted a full-scale replica of SpaceShipOne to the ceiling. Just thought Xconomy readers would be interested to see these photos (courtesy of Jennifer Bragg and Adrian Hunt).

SpaceShipOne was funded by Allen and received the $10 million Ansari X Prize in 2004 as the first low-cost, civilian, manned spacecraft launched into suborbital flight (to an altitude of around 100 kilometers). The craft, and its replica, were built by Mojave Aerospace Ventures and Scaled Composites. The original ship is on display at the Smithsonian in Washington DC.

Back in August, Luke took a tour of the Everett hangar facility, which opened to the public last June. It looks like the SpaceShipOne replica will feel right at home, as it is placed near the collection’s ME-163, the world’s first operational rocket-propelled aircraft—an inspiration to the design team of SpaceShipOne.

Gregory T. Huang is the Editor of Xconomy Seattle. You can e-mail him at gthuang@xconomy.com or call 206-624-2249.