Hypersonic plane makes brief test flight

New York Times : Yesterday a test run of an experimental aircraft ended abruptly when it crashed in the Pacific Ocean. Funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2, capable of flying at 13 000 mph, is the fastest aircraft ever built. It is part of a project designed to provide the US with a vehicle that can carry out a military strike anywhere in the world within an hour. Launched aboard a rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base near Los Angeles, the Falcon successfully separated from the booster, attained the desired trajectory, and managed to collect nine minutes of data before contact with it was lost. Despite the modest flight time, officials deemed the test a success.