At the end of October, the Bloodhound supersonic car team clocked up a new record for the decade-plus project of 334 mph. On Friday, the car pushed past the 450 mph mark and came tantalizingly close to Bloodhound LSR's current target of 500 mph.
Run Profile 5 was not all about speed, the Land Speed Racing team also wanted to test the left parachute. Driver Andy Green picked up speed to 50 mph (80 km/h) before pushing down the throttle to engage maximum reheat to dial in 90 kN of thrust and rocket the vehicle down the Hakskeenpan desert runway.
When he reached 440 mph (708 km/h), Green eased back on the throttle but acceleration increased to 461 mph (741.9 km/h) before the parachute was pulled. The front brakes were only applied when the supersonic car had dropped to 150 mph. At the 9-km (5.6-mi) mark on the runway, the car was u-turned and prepared for Run Profile 6.
Sadly, it wasn't to be and the planned 500 mph run was aborted due to minor damage. The damage is being repaired and the next run planned. The team is aiming to break the current 763.035 mph (1,227.9 km/h) late next year, and will then focus on blasting past the 1,000-mph mark. The video below has more.
Source: Bloodhound LSR