Originally Posted by OVERKILL
Originally Posted by y_p_w
I've saw a NASA SR-71 at the 1997 Edwards AFB Open House.
IIRC, all SR-71's were owned by NASA and loaned out. When the plane was retired, they were all returned to NASA to be dismantled. Then, it was briefly brought back into service, then retired again. Currently, NASA operates the only functional example, and keeps a stockpile of spare parts from the retired units to be able to continue doing so, to test airframes at speeds only the SR-71 is capable of, which is done by mounting models to its back.
I saw this beauty at the Smithsonian just outside of Washington a few years back when I was working at AAFB:
Did it turn into a giant robot with a giant cane?
However, NASA claims that they had/have access to the SR-71 on loan from the US Air Force.
Quote
https://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/news/X-Press/SR-71_spotlight.html
Two SR-71 Blackbird aircraft were flown by Dryden for high-speed and high-altitude aeronautical research during the 1990s. The aircraft included an SR-71A and an SR-71B trainer version, both loaned to NASA by the U.S. Air Force. The SR-71 is the world's fastest and highest-flying production aircraft, capable of attaining more than three times the speed of sound and altitudes of more than 85,000 feet.