Flying high: the winner of an out-of-this-world race, SpaceShipOne will land this summer at the National Air and Space Museum.(AROUND THE MALL: SCENES AND SIGHTINGS FROM THE SMITHSONIAN MUSEUMS AND BEYOND)

Publication: Smithsonian

Publication Date: 01-MAY-05

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COPYRIGHT 2005 Smithsonian Institution

"When that sunny, blue sky just suddenly turns to black, that was the biggest thrill," says pilot Michael Melvill, who flew into space last September in the world's first civilian-built and financed rocket ship, SpaceShipOne. "It takes a few minutes for your eyes to adjust, but then you can see the planets and the stars."

This past March, SpaceShipOne's owners donated the craft to the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, where it will eventually hang alongside Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis and the Bell X-1 that...

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