Supersonic car revs up for 1000 mph

23 October 2008

British engineers today announced an ambitious plan to construct a car capable of reaching speeds of over 1000 mph. Launched in the Science Museum's Antenna gallery, Project Bloodhound aims to smash the current land speed record in 2011. Antenna gets up to speed...

Bloodhound will accelerate to 1050 mph in just 40 seconds. At top speed the car travels faster than a bullet fired from a Magnum handgun.

Image: Science Museum/Gaetan Lee

Technology from the Bloodhound project is on display in the Antenna gallery from 23 to 28 October 2008.

Image: Science Museum/Jennie Hills

The reigning land speed record-holder, Thrust SSC (supersonic car ), was the first land vehicle to travel faster than sound. In 1997 the car shot across the Black Rock Desert in Nevada at 763 mph.
Thrust relied on state-of-the-art jet engines to reach supersonic speeds. The Bloodhound team will combine a jet engine with a rocket for the first time to hit 1050 mph.

RAF pilot Andy Green drove Thrust SSC to record-breaking speeds. He'll be back behind the wheel for Bloodhound's 1000 mph attempt.

Image: Cody Images/Science Photo Library

When Andy Green puts his foot down, Bloodhound's jet engine will accelerate the car up to 300 mph. At this point, the rocket will ignite, propelling Bloodhound up to its maximum speed.
Once the car is travelling at over 1000 mph, the rocket and jet engine will be turned off. When the vehicle slows to around 600 mph, two parachutes will unfurl, reducing the car's speed until its brakes can be applied safely.

Weighing in at 6.5 tonnes, Bloodhound will be almost 13 metres long - about the length of a bus.

Image: Bloodhound SSC

Building Bloodhound will be an enormous engineering challenge. At top speed, the force of the air on the car's carbon fibre and titanium bodywork will be more than 12 tonnes per square metre. It has to be as tough as a submarine!

Bloodhound uses the engine of a Eurofighter jet plane.

Image: Bloodhound SSC

Where will Bloodhound be put to the test?
To rev up to supersonic speeds - and safely slow down again - Bloodhound needs some very special ground. It must be flat and smooth, with no small rocks or pebbles, and at least 12 miles long and 3 miles wide.
Using satellites, the team have been scanning the globe to select suitable test sites. They've drawn up a shortlist of 36 desert locations to visit for a closer look so they can work out which one's best.

Black Rock Desert, the site of the last record-breaking attempt, is now too bumpy for Bloodhound.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

What's it like to drive a supersonic car?
Accelerating from 0 to 1050 mph and back again pushes the human body to its limits. But being a professional fighter pilot, Andy Green has been trained to cope with the heat, vibrations and deafening levels of noise he'll be exposed to when driving Bloodhound.
'There are risks, but they're worth taking because it's a huge challenge and a massive prize at the end, not just for the biggest record but to inspire the next generation of engineers, to share it with every schoolchild in the country.' Andy Green, Bloodhound pilot

The engines and rocket that will power Bloodhound are on display in the Antenna gallery.

Image: Science Museum/Jennie Hills

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