Pentagon Tests Hypersonic Flying Bomb     PHOTOS: How H.G.
Wells' World Became Real    The test was for gathering data on
aerodynamics, navigation, guidance and control, and thermal
protection technologies, according to a Department of Defense
press release. The weapon is a gliding vehicle, launched a
three-stage rocket to suborbital altitude. Unlike a ballistic
missile it doesn’t travel in a long parabolic arc. The gliding
gives it the ability to steer.  BLOG: Navy Cannon Launch Breaks
World Record  This isn’t the first hypersonic vehicle the
military has tested. In August, the Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency flew a hypersonic glider, launched from a
rocket, which was supposed to go from Vandenberg Air Force Base
on a 4,000-mile trip. That glider failed and was lost, but it
provided valuable data used in the AHW test.  Image: DARPA