Thrust SSC Team Set Sights on 1,600 km/h Land Speed Record

Twelve years ago, the jet-propelled Thrust SSC, piloted by RAF Wing Commander Andy Green, stunned the world when it set a new land speed record of 1,228 km/h in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, USA. With this, the Thrust SSC became the first car to travel faster than the speed of sound, and it totally decimated the previous land speed record by about 210 km/h. The previous record was held by the Thrust 2 and was driven by Richard Noble, who played a large role in developing the Thrust SSC.

Now, Richard Noble and Andy Green have teamed up yet again and plan to break the 1,000 mph (1,609 km/h) barrier with the new car they’re developing, called the Bloodhound SSC. Since this new aim implies an increase of about 31% in the old land speed record, the Bloodhound SSC team, sponsored by premier fuel additive brand, STP, plan to achieve their target in baby steps; starting with an 800mph (1,287 km/h) attempt in 2009, followed by 900mph (1,448 km/h) in 2010 and finally the magic quadruple-digit number in 2010.

The Bloodhound SSC design demonstrates a radical departure from previous land speed record cars. Where other cars used a single type of propulsion source, the Bloodhound will be powered by 3 different engines; a High Test Peroxide (HTP) Falcon rocket, a Eurojet EJ220 turbofan engine from the Eurofighter Typhoon jet fighter and an MCT V12 race engine producing 810 PS of power. The V12 internal combustion engine does the job of the APU (Auxiliary Power Unit) by powering the hydraulic system and starts up the jet turbine. At around 560 km/h, the Falcon rocket ignites as the V12 engine starts pumping oxidizer into it. The rocket and turbofan together produce the required 20,000kg of thrust to take the 12.8m long, 6,400kg car up to its target top speed of Mach 1.4 in about 40 seconds from standstill.

The Bloodhound project also plans to make all the design, build and test data of the record breaking attempts available to schools and colleges through their website, in the form of teaching and learning materials. Students and teachers will also be able to get some hands-on experience with the technology at the Bloodhound Centre in Fulton, Bristol in the UK. With this, the project seeks to get young people to take interest in cutting-edge technology and inspire them to take up various scientific fields as their careers when they graduate from college.