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Today is the 50th anniversary of the first flight of SR-71.It still holds the record as the fastest air-breathing manned jet.

The reason it’s the fastest is mainly due to its unique engines, find out how they work here:

The SR-71 Blackbird was designed to cruise at Mach 3+, more than three times the speed of sound at altitudes up to 85,000 feet. Because of the unique capabilities of the SR-71, it made the perfect test subject. NASA used it to test aerodynamics, propulsion, structures, thermal protection materials, high-speed and high-temperature instrumentation, atmospheric studies, and sonic boom characterization. NASA conducted tests intermittently using the SR-71 until 1997.