In service since 1955, the venerable U-2 spy plane may have flown it's last sortie.

That is a respectably long service life, and honorable.

It seems they are now to be replaced with drones, which for all their lack of style, will probably do a better job with no risk of loss to the pilot. Not only that, but without the risk of error from exhaustion.

From the article:

 "The heavy use of the U-2 has been hard on the pilots. Missions can be as long as 12 hours and pilots operate in a cockpit pressurized to conditions found at 10,000 meters (31,000 feet). This puts more strain on the pilot's body. That, and the fact that they breathe pure oxygen while in the cockpit, means they tend to be completely exhausted after returning from a long mission. U-2s fly missions daily over the Middle East, Afghanistan, and Korea."

                                                       The plane itself

                                              A U2 pilot, probably over Chico, California.