Formerly known as 980, 844 is one of four Blackbirds being used by NASA for high-speed research.  She had been on loan from the Air Force, but in early July 1999, the US Air Force transferred ownership of all four flyable SR-71s to NASA.

The following photos show 844 being preflighted for her launch on September 27, 1999.  This was the final in a series of "calibration" flights to establish a base line of flight data for the aircraft and test platform without any additional payload.  This will allow any effect the aircraft and platform might have on future experimental payloads to be accurately compensated for when evaluating the data collected.

TEB flashes in the tailpipe as the left engine is started

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