Smithsonian Air and Space Museum / BlackBird1- The SR-71 Blackbird is an advanced, long-range, Mach 3 strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed from the Lockheed A-12 and YF-12A
Richard Erwin                                          aircraft by the Lockheed Skunk Works as a Black project. The SR-71 line was in service from 1964 to 1998, with 12 of the 32 aircraft being destroyed in
8/10/2009                                                accidents, though none were lost to enemy action. Cruising at Mach 3.2 ( 2,458 miles per hour), the Blackbird was able to outrun any missile fired at it
                                                                  during the time it was operational (about 4,000 attempts were made). Able to reach altitudes of 80,000 feet and above, the plane created significant
                                                                  problems of life support and emergency ejection for the designers to solve.