Bloodhound engineers test-fire rocket

British engineers have fired up the rocket that they hope will propel their car to speeds in excess of 1,000mph, to smash the land speed record.

Britain’s latest attempt at the world land speed record has come a step closer as the Bloodhound engineers test-fired the new 18-inch-diameter hybrid rocket on a test stand in the Mojave Desert. The hybrid rockets use solid fuel – a synthetic rubber hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB), and high test peroxide (HTP) as oxidizer, and are custom built for the Bloodhound Project.

To find out more about this latest step in the attempt to break the 1000mph barrier on land, click here to read the Guardian Science article.

For more on the project check out the Bloodhound SSC website

British plans for the world’s first 1,000mph car

British engineers have unveiled plans for the world’s first 1,000mph car, a muscular streak of gunmetal and orange designed not to break the world land speed record but to shatter it. The proposed car will attempt to beat the existing record by more than 250mph. The car called Bloodhound SSC, is named after the British cold war supersonic air defence missiles.

There is an official supporters’ Club for The BLOODHOUND Project with access to a members-only area of The BLOODHOUND Project website www.BLOODHOUNDSSC.com. The club called the BLOODHOUND SSC 1K Club offers a chance to help the project, see the car being built and to meet the team, and for Gold members, an invitation to experience a UK run of the car. Contributions from supporters club members helped fund the Thrust SSC Project that went on to set the current Land Speed Record.

Check out the Bloodhound SSC website, or download the pdf leaflet