A team of coders, engineers and rocket scientists is assembling the first car to reach 1000 miles per hour (1,600 kph), the Bloodhound SCC. When ready later this year, it will do a gentle 200 mph (322 kpg) test run in the UK, after which the full-throttle dash will be tried out in South Africa.
The team members were excited when they received their Bloodhound Supersonic Car (SSC) kit for Christmas, containing 3,500 components, including a Rolls-Royce EJ200 jet engine that is normally found in the Eurofighter Typhoon.
The kit also contained a cluster of Nammo hybrid rockets, which are used to power the next generation of space launchers, as well as a 550 bhp Supercharged Jaguar V8 that will pump the oxidizer into the rocket.
The Bloodhound SCC is the result of 110 man-years that have been invested in the designing, building and manufacturing of the supersonic car.
Later this year, in the Kalahari Desert in South Africa, the team plan to challenge the Land Speed Record.
According to The Bloodhound Project website, going super-fast is not its main aim. Its focal point is to inspire the next generation of engineers and scientists by “showcasing these subjects in the most exciting way possible.”
The Bloodhound SSC is expected to break the land speed record this year. (Source: The Bloodhound Project)
The team says that more than 5,700 primary and secondary schools across the United Kingdom, and thousands more globally, use Bloodhound materials in the classroom and science clubs.
The Bloodhound Project said in a statement:
“Our aim is for every school child in the UK to enjoy at least one Bloodhound lesson or experience by the time the car reaches its ultimate Land Speed Record goal of 1000 mph in 2016.”
The Bloodhound Project’s Mission Statement is to:
“Create a unique, high-technology project, focused around a 1000 mph World Land Speed Record attempt. Share this Engineering Adventure with a global audience and inspire the next generation by bringing science, technology, engineering and mathematics to life in the most exciting way possible.”
