i went to www.danbrown.com and i read about some stuff under his knowledge and factual links. anyways, that X-33 he described in the book that goes mach 15 which is 15k miles i believe, it can travel from NY to Tokyo in an HR!!! here is the link.. its more factual on wikipedia.. so here ug o.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_X-33

The current shuttle goes 17,500 mph so it is no surprise a replacement travels that fast.

http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:6LxbQt...t=clnk&cd=1

Looks like the x-33 was cancelled in 2001 though according to the wiki.