An SR-71A Blackbird reconnaissance aircraft comes out of retirement to fly its first scientific flight for NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The aircraft, fitted with an ultraviolet video camera in the nose bay, is flown to an altitude of approximately 83,000 feet and collects more than 140,000 images of stars and comets.
Boeing received a $2.47 billion Air Force contract Nov. 25 for 15 more KC-46s, bringing to 183 the number of Pegasus tankers on contract to all customers, foreign and domestic. The new contract—for Lot 12 of the initially planned KC-46 buy—is to be completed by 2029.
