Engineers donned flame-retardent suits and safety goggles this week as they tested the new hybrid rocket engine that they hope will power Bloodhound SSC past the 1,000 mile per hour mark — setting a new land speed record.
The rocket engine is being developed by Nammo; the company's hybrid technology uses synthetic rubber as the fuel and hydrogen peroxide as the oxidizer. The test simply looked like a sleekly designed golden propane tank blasting fire out of one end.
On Tuesday, engineers ignited the rocket and allowed to burn for 16 seconds. It was able to generate three tons of thrust — "an unprecedented success" Bloodhound officials wrote in a news release. The testing took place at Nammo's facilities in Raufoss, Norway.
As impressive as it is, the new rocket engine won't be enough to earn Bloodhound SSC a world record on its own. Half the thrust necessary to break the land speed record will be provided by a spare Rolls-Royce EJ200, a jet engine used in the Eurofighter. The engine was donated by the British government.
The car, which is still under construction, will be ready to attempt the world-record feat beginning in 2016; it will use the Hakskeen Pan, a dry and supremely flat lake bed in South Africa, as its runway.
