[mmcconnell1618]

What's really incredible is that the SR-71 was built in the 1960's. I just read Ben Rich's book about his days at the Skunk Works and it was incredible to see what they had to do to build a titanium airplane. Tools would break when attempting to drill through the material. The plan would stretch several inches in length during flight from heat expansion. The cockpit would get so hot that they risked cooking the pilot alive if the air conditioning failed (and don't ever touch the windshield if you want to keep your hands). LA to DC in 62 minutes!

I'd like to think we've got something faster now that's just classified but I suspect we've gone to slower remote drones and satellite data that has less political repercussions.