National Air & Space Museum, Virginia

The SR-71 Blackbird was built during the Cold War for "strategic reconnaissance" spy operations by Lockheed's famous Skunk Works in Burbank and Palmdale, California near Edwards Air Force Base. It was the successor to the U-2, designed in a crash project after one of the latter, piloted by Gary Powers, was downed by a missile while on a mission over Russia in 1960. The SR-71 still holds the world record for fastest air-breathing (not rocket powered) aircraft at 2,200 mph, or under 2 seconds per mile. It could fly up to 88,000 feet (16 miles), where the sky is black and the earth is visibly curved. It had a range of 3,355 miles and could be refueled in flight for extended operation. 32 were built. Most were retired at the end of the Cold War, while the last two, used by NASA for research, were decommissioned in 1999. This one is at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virgina.