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  • Courtesy of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. Photo by Eric Long

    Virgin Galactic donates SpaceShipTwo rocket motor to the Smithsonian

    by 
    Jon Fingas
    Jon Fingas
    02.10.2019

    You might see a piece of private spaceflight history on display when you visit Washington, DC in the future. Virgin Galactic has donated SpaceShipTwo's (VSS Unity) historic rocket motor to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. This is the powerplant that took the craft into space for the first time this past December, and represents both "technical achievement" as well as proof of what you can do through "entrepreneurial innovation," according to museum director Ellen Stofan.