You’ll hear an almighty bang as the rocket car breaks the sound barrier and accelerates to the supersonic speed of 1 600km/h – that’s 30% faster than the previous land speed record achieved by Thrust SSC in October 1997.
You’ll hear an almighty bang as the rocket car breaks the sound barrier and accelerates to the supersonic speed of 1 600km/h – that’s 30% faster than the previous land speed record achieved by Thrust SSC in October 1997.
Never before has a car reached this speed, but never before has the Bloodhound SSC existed.
In 2015 the British supersonic car will be flown to South Africa’s Hakskeenpan in the Northern Cape to break the World Land Speed Record, currently held by Royal Air Force fighter pilot Andy Green.
But first Green and the team will be visiting Grahamstown on Monday for this year’s Scifest, adding a supersonic angle to the festival’s theme: Science on the Move.
Project Director Richard Noble, a former land speed record holder himself, explained the initial plan was to “build the ultimate car”.
Seven tonnes, almost 14 metres and 135 000 horsepower (the equivalent of about 160 Formula 1 cars) later, the Bloodhound project was launched.
It will touch down in South Africa at the end of this year to initiate a series of test runs before flying back to the UK for finishing touches in time for 2015.
When the Bloodhound project first began the search for the flattest land in the world commenced.
The team scoured the globe for 18 months until Green ultimately came to the decision to use Hakskeenpan, “so it’s the fastest car in the world driving on the flattest land in the world,” Noble said.
But breaking the land speed record isn’t their main goal and the project’s educational role has superseded the excitement of breaking the record.
“It took time to get started. It was initially all based on promise,” Noble explained, but now they have hundreds of schools involved across the world and the team can confidently offer them all the data gathered.
The processes and challenges the team goes through, as well as all the data collected from a series of test drives at the end of this year and beginning of 2014 until the final drive will be made available on the website
It is free for teachers to download simply by registering.
According to Noble, "It’s a new and original idea to encourage interest in engineering, science and maths among the youth."
Dave Rowley, the local education programme director, said the project was brought over to South Africa in 2011 and showcased at SciFest, “but it is equally applicable here as any other country. We want as many schools as possible to be involved”.
Rowley describes the project that began in the UK in 2008 as “infectious”. “We have partnered up with MTN to ensure all data will be available,” Rowley explained.
Understanding that not all demographics of the country have internet access, the education programme provides DVDs of broadcasts on relevant topics including aerodynamics, drag and why the Hakskeenpan was specifically selected.
“We have the opportunity to promote science as careers,” explained Rowley, “it’s an attempt to break the record but to also inspire a new generation of engineers… the education legacy once obtained will continue as an exciting vehicle of learning”.
A thrilling new addition to Scifest is the “Bloodhound Driving Experience”, never before publicly experienced in South Africa.
This simulated experience will offer visitors first-hand experience of the controls Green will use to drive and stop the car as well as the instrumentation he will have to monitor to ensure performance and functionality.
Green himself will also be an attraction, giving Scifest enthusiasts the opportunity to get involved closer than ever before with the project.
As a mathematician and the fastest man in the world he will speak at a lecture on the maths and science behind the project and in driving the rocket car.
Scifest media officer Joy Matambo is amped up about what the Bloodhound project can offer young aspiring scientists.
“The learners are very curious about Andy and the impact the project has on him. It’s a dangerous expedition but it’s worth it to inspire,” she told
“He shows the youth that science is really cool and amazing, and you should let your imagination run wild.
You can be faster than a bullet if you imagine it.”
Scifest expects to welcome about 85 000 visitors this year from South Africa and the rest of the continent, after a turnout of 72 310 visitors last year.
FAST FACTS ABOUT BLOODHOUND
- With support from the Northern Cape government, the local community set out with the huge task of preparing the Hakskeenpan track.
- Stones and obstructions on the track can cause damage not only to the car but act as a projectile bouncing off the supersonic car. Six thousand tonnes of stones have been cleared from the 1.1km wide and 20 km long track.
- Scifest will be jam-packed with Bloodhound SSC activities and workshops hosted by the team next week.
- Learners will complete various practical tasks like building balloon rocket cars to understand the challenges that the engineers face.
- The team will teach the basics of the car, demonstrate rules of physics as well as exhibit challenges the team faces in keeping the rocket car’s wheels firmly on the ground – a vital requirement of the record.
- Andrew Green is a fighter pilot in the Royal Air Force and an Oxford graduate in Mathematics. In 1994 he began his journey working alongside Noble.
- Two World Land Speed Records later, Thrust SSC remains the world’s first and only supersonic record car, until Bloodhound came along of course.
Green will participate in the Scifest Africa opening ceremony on Thursday and will be giving a prestige lecture on “Project Bloodhound” at 12pm on Friday at the Guy Butler Theatre, Grahamstown Monument.
