BRISTOL, England — The Bloodhound project, or the venture working to break the world land speed record, has released some information detailing its latest developments. Headquartered in Bristol, Bloodhound formally announced its recent education efforts, the redesign of its Super Sonic Car (SSC) and a selection of the location where it will attempt to shatter the record.
The project is sponsored by fuel additives and engine care brand STP and was launched in October 2008. More than 2,410 primary and secondary schools, 178 colleges and 33 universities are currently using Bloodhound educational resources in their lesson plans. Bloodhound is trying to spur interest in the science and technology fields and has already achieved its target of reaching 10 percent of the 25,000 schools in England and Wales.
The Bloodhound SSC has gone through 10 design evolutions since work started, and engineers have finally agreed on a power source. The car had to be built to withstand forces of 50,000 radial g while supporting a 6.5-ton car travelling up to 1,050 mph. An almost 900-pound hybrid rocket will be positioned in the rear of the SSC. Combining that with the SSC's EJ200 jet engine, the car will produce 47,500 pounds of thrust — the equivalent of 135,000 horsepower.
After scanning the globe for the perfect run location — and sending driver Andy Green to visit the contenders — Bloodhound settled on Verneukpan in South Africa. A computer program utilizing radar survey data had located multiple places fulfilling the necessary conditions of a 10-mile-long flat area with 1 mile of clear runoff at each end. The run is slated for 2011.
Sponsors of the project are STP, Swansea University, Serco, EPSRC and the University of the West of England. The project also has a "1k Club," or the official Bloodhound supporters club, that has provided more than $227,000 in funding.
Inside Line says: It will be exciting to see the Bloodhound SSC attempt to shatter the world land speed record in 2011. — Mike Lysaght, Correspondent
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smihal says:
08:07 AM, 11/25/2009
My cousins chipped ZR1 would totally smoke this thing.
sassy9 says:
07:09 AM, 11/25/2009
They don't no about gas or diesel weather it's going to spik up or down the the 2010 models have not done anything about mileage vw is the only one because of there diesel engine when are the car makers going to wake up.Weare going to git up in the morning some day and it's going to be back too 4.50 a gal.
trackaholic says:
12:05 AM, 11/25/2009
They need to make two passes in opposite directions in order to cancel out the effect of wind and any elevation gradients. Otherwise you'd time the event to coincide with a nice tailwind.
-T
firstclass says:
11:02 PM, 11/24/2009
Can someone answer me why do drivers have to make two passes at the land speed record for it to qualify as a record? Did Neil Armstrong have to walk on the moon a second time? Honestly, at some point it's going to become too dangerous to attempt fate twice in 30 minutes.