Bloodhound SSC: Fastest Land vehicle in the world!

Bloodhound SSC is a pencil-shaped car powered by a jet engine and a rocket that is designed to reach approximately 1,000 miles per hour (1,609 km/h). It is being developed and built with the intention of breaking the land speed record by the largest ever margin. If £10 M of sponsorship funding is obtained the construction should be complete by end 2009 and the record attempt may happen in 2011.

The project was announced on 23 October 2008 at the Science Museum in London by Lord Drayson, the Minister of Science in the UK's Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, who in 2006 first proposed the project to Richard Noble and Andy Green; the two men who between them have held the land speed record for 25 years.

Richard Noble, engineer, adventurer, and former wallpaper salesman, reached 633 mph (1,019 km/h) driving turbojet-powered car named Thrust 2 across the Nevada desert in 1983. In 1997, he headed the project to build the Thrust SSC, driven by Andy Green, an RAF pilot, at 763 mph (1,228 km/h).

The task of driving the vehicle will fall to the land speed record holder Wing Commander Green, 46, who will lie feet-first in the Bloodhound. As the car accelerates, from 0-1,050 mph in 40 seconds, he will experience a force of 2.5g (two and a half times his bodyweight) and the blood will rush to his head.

Design and development:
To slow down, airbrakes will deploy at 800 mph (1,300 km/h) and parachutes at 600 mph (970 km/h). As he decelerates, experiencing forces of up to 3g, the blood will drain to his feet and he could black out. He will practice for this in a stunt aircraft, flying upside-down over the British countryside.


Construction:

Engineers from the University of the West of England produced the scale model which was exhibited at the launch, and will integrate the engineering behind the car into its curriculum, working with design team, lead by John Piper (JCB Dieselmax Chief Designer). The car will be built at a site that has still to be decided (July 2009). Four sites are putting together proposals - they are Belfast, Bristol, Coventry and Farnborough. The site will include an educational centre.