If you haven’t read up on the Bloodhound SSC project, head to the company’s website. In short, it is the team’s aim to both break the land-speed record in 2014 and pass the magic 1 000 mph (1 610 km/h) mark.
More importantly, one of the main aims of the project is to educate children around the globe and to promote interest in mathematics and science. This has been successful since over 5 000 schools and a number of universities are already part of the project.
Apart from reading up on Bloodhound SSC’s website and looking at the video’s, the magnitude of the project really hit home when I met up with some members of the team at Hakskeenpan in the Northern Cape. This is the chosen venue for the record attempt in 2014, and different members of the team visit the pan up to twice a month where around 300 workers are busy clearing the world’s fastest track of stones.
Fortunately enough money has now been secured to finalise the project until the very end, now it is the final two years of development and testing that will need to be done.
Richard Noble (OBE), the project director (he was also the project director of Thrust SSC in the 1990s) and land-speed record holder from 1983-1997, was part of the team that visited the pan over the weekend. Between Carte Blanche filming and him checking the pan, I sat down with him for a few minutes.
Having spent a few hours on the pan, and as a previous record holder, I asked Richard what goes through his mind when he drives on the pan, taking in mind the record attempt in two years’ time.
What are the main challenges for the project at this stage and how are things looking for the next year?
Richard has been involved with landspeed records for more than three decades. I wondered what single technology has advanced most during this time?
What can South Africans expect to see next year when you bring the car?
As educating children about Bloodhound SSC is one of the main pillars of the project, Richard shares some of his thoughts on the topic.
If you haven’t read up on the Bloodhound SSC project, head to the company’s website. In short, it is the team’s aim to both break the land-speed record in 2014 and pass the magic 1 000 mph (1 610 km/h) mark.
More importantly, one of the main aims of the project is to educate children around the globe and to promote interest in mathematics and science. This has been successful since over 5 000 schools and a number of universities are already part of the project.
Apart from reading up on Bloodhound SSC’s website and looking at the video’s, the magnitude of the project really hit home when I met up with some members of the team at Hakskeenpan in the Northern Cape. This is the chosen venue for the record attempt in 2014, and different members of the team visit the pan up to twice a month where around 300 workers are busy clearing the world’s fastest track of stones.
Fortunately enough money has now been secured to finalise the project until the very end, now it is the final two years of development and testing that will need to be done.
Richard Noble (OBE), the project director (he was also the project director of Thrust SSC in the 1990s) and land-speed record holder from 1983-1997, was part of the team that visited the pan over the weekend. Between Carte Blanche filming and him checking the pan, I sat down with him for a few minutes.
Having spent a few hours on the pan, and as a previous record holder, I asked Richard what goes through his mind when he drives on the pan, taking in mind the record attempt in two years’ time.
What are the main challenges for the project at this stage and how are things looking for the next year?
Richard has been involved with landspeed records for more than three decades. I wondered what single technology has advanced most during this time?
What can South Africans expect to see next year when you bring the car?
As educating children about Bloodhound SSC is one of the main pillars of the project, Richard shares some of his thoughts on the topic.