NASA asked several former SR-71A staffers to help secret restart(aviationweek.com)
320 points by ilamont 14 days ago | 394 comments
tl;dr: NASA has quietly removed SR-71A Tail No. 844 from its display pole at Armstrong Flight Research Center and is attempting to return the Blackbird to flight after a 27-year hiatus, recruiting retired test engineers for the secret project. The effort faces enormous hurdles: the $600M spare parts inventory was destroyed in 2007, specialized JP-7 fuel and ground equipment are gone, and the engines have sat unlubricated for decades. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman teased the project at a September summit as part of a broader push to rebuild the agency's X-plane fleet.
HN Discussion:
  • ↑Supports the restart for research value and preserving engineering expertise
  • •Questions whether destroyed parts and tools might actually be recoverable
  • ↑Skeptical due to practical hurdles like missing JP-7 fuel and tankers
  • ↓Believes classified successor aircraft already exist, making SR-71 revival pointless
  • ↓Views the project as a political vanity effort rather than genuine engineering need