The second run of the ThrustSSC supersonic car is planned for today November 16th. The project is an international challenge to produce the first ever supersonic land speed record with the first high speed desert trials being carried out on the Jafr desert in Jordan. The project is being carried out against American and Australian competition all aiming to achieve Mach 1 on land first.
Driven by British fighter pilot Andy Green, the 850mph (1370kph) ThrustSSC car weighs 10 tonnes and has 106,000 hp, making it the most powerful car ever built. The research period for the car took 2.5 years and the subsequent build 75,000 man hours, with the help of 210 international sponsors. The 30 person ThrustSSC team is operating from the King Feisal Air Base at Jafr, with the operational base on the Jafr desert itself, which offers a consistently hard desert surface with a longer operational weather window than the traditional US sites.
After sixteen days of car and desert preparation the first run was achieved on the 12th of November with a maximum speed attained of 230mph (370kph). During the run the car hit a hollow created by a filled sunken desert road and flew a short distance - this required resetting of the rear suspension and rear steering wheels. Driver Andy Green also experienced a rough ride due to the hardness of the desert and the suspension settings - which have been eased for run 02.
The run 02 profile calls for a non-afterburning acceleration to 200mph (322kph) and then a short decel to check rolling resistance followed by a rapid (non-afterburning) acceleration to 350 mph (563kph). Braking will be by the triple medium-speed parachute cluster and the Dunlop wheel brakes. The objectives are to build driver familiarisation, prove stability at 350mph, and confirm rolling resistance data from the first run. Once successful this run will be followed by a succession of speed building runs commencing on Monday 18th.
Following the run, and after continuous working for the last 35 days at the rate of 80+ manhours/man/week, the team is to be stood down for 24 hours break before the onset of the the final phase of the Jafr high speed development.
Next run of Thrust SSC is planned for Monday November 18th.
The current World Land Speed Record is 633.468mph (1019.44kph) held by Richard Noble, project director of ThrustSSC, since Oct 4th 1983 - second longest period in history.
ENDS
Day by day coverage and 600 page support material on the ThrustSSC project is available with quality JPEG copyright free photographs on the Internet. Access http://thrustssc.digital.co.uk (4.0 million accesses from 90 countries and with a growth rate of 50,000 accesses/day). Full media support service with photographic reproductions service (44)181-308-6520. Project Jordan office (96)26-886141.
Please note that Motor Racing can be very dangerous. You attend the ThrustSSC trials at Jafr Jordan only at your own risk.
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