Event Brief
NASA offers jobs to retired engineers to restart SR-71
By The BriefBrief · Sources (2)
Filed: Sep 30, 2026 at 11:00 PM ET
Summary: NASA has made formal job offers to retired test engineers Mike Relja and Tim Conners to help restart the SR-71 Blackbird program. The SR-71 last flew on October 9, 1999, and its engines have not been turned on since, with the aircraft stored near NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center.
WHO: NASA; Mike Relja; Tim Conners
WHAT: NASA made formal job offers to retired SR-71 test engineers to help restart the SR-71 Blackbird, whose engines have not been run since its last flight.
WHEN: Oct 9, 1999
WHERE: Armstrong Flight Research Center, USA
WHY: To help restart the SR-71 Blackbird after its last flight in 1999 and with specialized ground equipment reportedly no longer available.
How this brief is built: The BriefBrief uses multi-source information fusion to correlate reporting across sources, identify related developments, and continuously update a structured WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE and WHY event picture. Pattern arcs, source analysis, and velocity indicators provide deeper analysis in our MI Console.
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