Special Sub-Topic: Faster Than Sound Click Here To Play: Faster Than Sound

When did the ThrustSSC team break the sound barrier?

15th October 1997. The first ever supersonic World Land Speed Record of 763.035mph was set on 15th October 1997 by Andy Green in ThrustSSC. ThrustSSC has reached a highest speed through the measured mile to date of 766mph on Wednesday 15th October 1997, a Mach number of 1.020.

What does the "SSC" on ThrustSSC stand for?

Super Sonic Car. ThrustSSC is the most powerful, most extraordinary car ever to be designed to attack the Land Speed Record, and as the SSC (SuperSonic Car) in the name indicates, it is also one of the first with genuine potential to breach the Sound Barrier.

The Thrust SSC uses two jet engines made by who?

Rolls-Royce Spey. Thrust SSC is powered by two Rolls-Royce Spey jet engines, as used in the RAF and Royal Navy's Phantom fighter-bomber aircraft. Testing of the car is performed using two Spey Mk202s, while record runs utilise a more powerful hybrid Mk202 - often called a Mk205 - version of the engine.

What is unique about the steering of the Thrust SSC?

Rear Wheel Steering. Like most other elements of it's radical design, Thrust SSC's rear steer layout emanates from a couple of basic principles that have guided the overall design philosophy from it's earliest days. Firstly, the car has to be inherently safe. The second major principle of the design, that of minimising cross-sectional area in order to reduce drag.

The Thrust SSC team represents what country?

United Kingdom. The car was on display with Thrust2 at the Museum of British Road Transport in Coventry. It is unlikely that ThrustSSC will ever run again, having achieved the objective of the first ever Supersonic World Land Speed Record.