SpaceShipOne
SEATTLE, Sept 12, 2016--The Museum will host a reception and panel with best-selling author Julian Guthrie, who will discuss her new book about the Ansari XPRIZE competition, "How to Make a Spaceship: A Band of Renegades, an Epic Race, and the Birth of Private Spaceflight." Joining Guthrie will be three major figures in the story, Ansari XPRIZE founder Peter Diamandis, cofounder Erik Lindbergh, and Brian Binnie, pilot of Ansari XPRIZE-winning SpaceShipOne. The program runs from 5:30 to 8 p.m. under a full-scale replica of SpaceShipOne hanging in the Charles Simonyi Space Gallery. Tickets are $10 (with early bird sales through Sept. 16th). Tickets online.

Media: Members of the media may contact the Museum PR office for free admission plus one guest.

Schedule:
5:30-6:30 p.m. Reception with hors d'oeuvres and cash bar
6:30-7:30 p.m. Panel discussion
7:30-8 p.m. Book signings. Books will be available on-site for purchase throughout the evening.

Ansari XPRIZE Background
Funded by the Ansari family, the Ansari XPRIZE challenged teams from around the world to build a reliable, reusable, privately financed, manned spaceship capable of carrying three people to 100 kilometers above the Earth's surface twice within two weeks. The prize was won by the SpaceShipOne team with its final flight on Oct. 4, 2004.

Guthrie's book tells the story of a cast of characters who dreamed of getting to space without the government's help. This cast includes aviators, test pilots, engineering school dropouts, NASA retirees, billionaires, and a particularly determined space geek who refused to give up on his outsized dream. The event is presented with the University of Washington School of Engineering.

Books will be available on-site for purchase throughout the evening.


Image: SpaceShipOne replica on display at The Museum of Flight in 2008.
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Founded in 1965, the independent, non-profit Museum of Flight is one of the largest air and space museums in the world, serving more than 560,000 visitors annually. The Museum's collection includes more than 160 historically significant airplanes and spacecraft, from the first fighter plane (1914) to today's 787 Dreamliner. Attractions also include the original Boeing Company factory, and the world's only full-scale NASA Space Shuttle Trainer. The Museum's aviation and space library and archives are the largest on the West Coast. More than 150,000 individuals are served annually by the Museum's on-site and outreach educational programs. The Museum of Flight is accredited by the American Association of Museums, and is an Affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution.

The Museum of Flight is located at 9404 E. Marginal Way S., Seattle, Exit 158 off Interstate 5 on Boeing Field halfway between downtown Seattle and Sea-Tac Airport. The Museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Museum admission for adults is $23 on-site and $21 online. Youth 5 through 17 are $14 on-site and $13 online, youth 4 and under are free. Seniors 65 and over $19 on-site and $18 online. Groups of ten or more: $21 per adult, $13 per youth, Thanks to Wells Fargo, on the first Thursday of every month, admission is free from 5 to 9 p.m. And parking is always free. There is a full lunch menu café in the Museum and a limited menu café in the Aviation Pavilion, both operated by McCormick & Schmick's. For general Museum information, please call 206-764-5720 or visit www.museumofflight.org

Ted Huetter
Senior Public Relations Manager
206.455.5360


Rachel Dreeben
Associate Manager, Marketing and Communications
206.768.7201