The first privately built and piloted vehicle to reach space has been donated to the Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum. The official turnover of SpaceShipOne takes place Oct. 5. NASM plans to hang it in the museum’s Milestones gallery, next to Chuck Yeager’s Bell X-1 and Charles Lindbergh’s “Spirit of St. Louis.”
Air Force depots are not typically meant for quick repair jobs, but during Operation Epic Fury, the service moved some of its stateside heavy maintenance capability forward to fix battle-damaged aircraft closer to the fight.
