Kev writes:

That's like saying the astronauts in the ISS or shuttle are too high to
see anything :-)

They aren't too high to see anything, but a lot of the planet looks
the same as you go higher and higher, and often there are clouds as
well.

Remember, it was often used for photos, which means they flew on severe
clear days for that task.

If they could. But cameras see things a lot better than people do.

And before the star-sensing navigation in the SR-71, they used a huge
visual drift sight to make sure they were on track. It was a periscope
centered at the top of the instrument panel, that showed the ground.

I didn't know that the SR-71s had ever flown without their ANS stuff,
although I recall reading about the periscope.

Anyway, my point was that SR-71 pilots probably flew the aircraft just
for the sake of flying the aircraft, and not for the view.

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