In 1986 I heard a peculiar rumor about the "Aurora", successor to the SR71 Blackbird. It said that the craft was to be launched from a very long "Vacuum tunnel" in Alaska. I don't remember the source but such a launch system always sounded intriguing.

The Aurora, supposedly designated "Senior Citizen"(F117 was said to be "Senior Trend") seems to have dropped out of public speculation.

The last I heard was some seismic readings in California that registered some odd sonic boom patterns.

One interesting note while at the Museum of flight in Seattle I befriended one of the guides, a retired engineer. I got what amounted to a personal guided tour. We spent a long time talking about the Blackbird on display. He gleefully walked under the wing and with his pointer wrapped the underside of the wing. TINK TINK TINK. “That’s titanium”, he said. Then we walked to where he could reach the leading edge and he gave it a few “whacks”. THUNK THUNK THUNK. With a big grin he said “ that’s radar absorbing material”.

Thinking back to how long ago the Blackbird was developed, I can’t help but grin to think what might be revealed thirty years from now.