🇺🇸 The last SR-71 Blackbird ever built has quietly vanished from NASA, and nobody's saying where it went.
This is the jet that cruised above 80,000 feet at over 3 times the speed of sound, set a 2,193 mph record in 1976 that still stands, dodged countless missiles without ever being shot down.
And there are enough clues to wonder if NASA might actually fly it again.
Tail number 844, the last Blackbird to fly, sat outside NASA's Armstrong center for years, and satellites haven't seen it since at least May.
Last week, NASA chief Jared Isaacman showed a Blackbird-looking jet on a slide titled "Rebuilding our X-plane portfolio." Asked about it, he replied: "You sure that's a Blackbird?"
Back in July, asked if he could bring the SR-71 back, his answer was "That's classified."
If NASA wanted to revive one, 844 is the natural pick, the Blackbird NASA already upgraded with digital controls that helped tame its notorious engine unstarts.
Asked about the missing jet, NASA said it has "no additional information to share," and it didn't deny anything either.
The engines are the real hurdle, since its J58s burn a special fuel called JP-7 that's out of regular production, only 32 Blackbirds were ever built, and the crews and parts behind them are long gone.
It may just be a routine inspection, but if it isn't, the most famous spy plane in history could be gearing up for one last run.
Source: Justin Taylor ( YT ), Aviation Week / Writer: Daniyal