Hypersonic plane: New York to LA in less than 12 minutes

Since it seems the most likely use for this craft or its successors is not as manned aircraft but as unmanned kinetic bomb, the headline "New York to LA in less than 12 minutes" seems to tell a story of a different United States than the one we have now.

Flight overview and info here: http://www.darpa.mil/Our_Work/TTO/Programs/Falcon_HTV-2/Falc...

Slide with links to video (WMV format) here: http://www.darpa.mil/Flight%20Overview%20slide--UPDATED%20as...

DARPA press release here: http://www.darpa.mil/NewsEvents/Releases/2011/2011/08/09_HYP...

DARPA twitter account: https://twitter.com/#!/DARPA_News

Different details in an alternative article submitted here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2873313

So your mandatory TSA rape before your flight might last longer than the flight itself? On the bright side, the baby sitting next to you won't even have time to start crying.