Britain's Minister of Science Lord Drayson is announcing today the commencement of the Bloodhound rocket car project, which will propel current land speed record-holder and RAF Pilot Andy Green to speeds of over 1000mph. This is another step in the sporadically intense fight for the fastest car in the world, but the Minister has a half-hilarious, half-reasonable excuse for it: it'll get British students interested in taking advanced science classes. Nobody really cares about stuff like that because, well, 1000mph. The first part of the run will be propelled by a jet engine, originally designed for the Eurofighter. After the Bloodhound reached 300mph, propulsion duties will be taken over by an experimental "bespoke" hybrid rocket, during which time the driver will be subjected to 2.5Gs of acceleration force until he hits 1050 mph. The whole process will take about 40 seconds, amazingly.
Naturally, possible blackouts, horrific crashes and mechanical malfunctions are all in the cards here. Dont' worry though — according to the Times, he is preparing in the most ludicrous way possible: "He will practice... in a stunt aircraft, flying upside-down over the British countryside." No date for the run has been set, but we should get a few more details after the Minister Drayson's formal announcement today. [Times Online]