1,000mph speed record target of UK team

Richard Noble will once again head a British team intent on not only retaining the current land speed record, but eclipsing it by exceeding 1,000mph.

Noble set a 633mph record himself and then managed the Thrust SSC record, which stands today at 766mph.

RAF pilot, Andy Green, was the driver of Thrust SSC and he has already volunteered to steer the new car to seal the record.

Called Bloodhound SSC, the new record breaker utilises a prototype Eurofighter jet engine donated to the project and a specially made 'hybrid' rocket.

The jet engine should have the capability to accelerate the car to 300mph, at which point the rocket's massive thrust is calculated to push the Bloodhound beyond 1,000mph.

Engineers have calculated that Green will have to withstand acceleration forces of 2.5G, as the car will reach 1,050mph from a standstill in just 40 seconds. Braking forces will exceed 3G, potentially resulting in the driver blacking out.

To put the massive speed into perspective, Green will cover the distance of four football pitches every second, which is quicker than the muzzle velocity from most guns.

Green's fast reactions kept Thrust SSC in line in his last record-breaking driver, but nobody knows what it will be like to add a further 300mph to the speed previously achieved.

Today, the Science Minister Lord Drayson, will unveil the team's plans as they seek funding of about £10 million.

The government's backing is to encourage more students into engineering and science, a sector that is currently lacking in numbers and talent in this country.

Though the Bloodhound has yet to be built, the British team hopes to make an attempt at the record on salt flats in the USA by 2011.

Shane O' Donoghue