While some in Washington may be focused today on stock market gyrations, defense geeks are glued to their computers for a different reason: the countdown to the launch of the Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2, or HTV-2, an unmanned aircraft that could hit speeds of up to 13,000 miles per hour, fast enough to travel from New York to LA in 12 minutes.

Department of Defense Image

The experimental aircraft is a project of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Pentagon’s blue-sky research arm. Sometime today, an Air Force Minotaur IV rocket is supposed to lift off from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., boosting the HTV-2 to the edge of space.

If all goes to plan, the rocket-launched aircraft will then separate from the rocket, re-enter the atmosphere, and then glide across the Pacific – reaching speeds of up to Mach 20. While the event will not be broadcast on the web, you can watch for live updates on the agency’s Twitter feed.

(Update: Wednesday’s launch was scrubbed due to weather, and has been rescheduled for Thursday morning.)

Why all the fuss over the hypersonic aircraft? For starters, it’s part of the Pentagon’s interest in the concept of “prompt global strike” – the ability to reach out and touch targets on the other side of the globe, almost instantly, without going nuclear…