Bloodhound SSC Into Administration

I think the education angle is used as justification

They’ve been open about their approach since day 1. Thrust SSC had massive funding issues throughout as nobody was really that interested. The education approach was their way of engaging as many people as possible

If you think most 9 year olds are going to give a stuff about a project which might deliver when they’re 18 next to a thing they can hold/play with now you clearly don’t know much about kids.

Of course you are entirely right, we should just tell kids to masturbate to online porn and aspire to work in a call center, it’s the future, none of this aspirational engineering shit.

Or, show a kid a rocket boosted jet car, give them one of those flashing LED christmas tree decorations to solder, and in 20 years time he’s building a fusion reactor powered jet car, and someone on the internet is moaning about how fusion is nothing new and kids aren’t interested anyway.  Either that or they make the evening news having hospitalised themselves by strapping some fireworks to the back of a go-kart.

Either that or they make the evening news having hospitalised themselves by strapping some fireworks to the back of a go-kart.

That might’ve been me…..

Govt won’t find anything in the magic money tree for this ,a lot of cash came from European dev fund stuff

good thing though that it won’t we will need the money for brexival perhaps they can tow it along behind a horse and cart

Or, show a kid a rocket boosted jet car, give them one of those flashing LED christmas tree decorations to solder,

Completely true, only what bloodhound is showing kids is finite element analysis, mathematical models on what’s got better aerodynamics for the application etc.

It’s very important to get kids inspired and interested but in the same way the apollo missions no doubt inspired a load of kids, if you spent the next ten months with a 9 year-old kid showing them how you decided which heat resistant tile to use you’d not inspire them.

Bloodhound has been running since 2008, so longer than that 9 year-old kid has been alive, it’s not going to complete anytime soon even with funding and it’s way over budget, that’s not inspiring, gods that’s the big whine we all have about government everything.

Think back to your chemistry classes, what inspired you more, titration for days on end or sticking hydrogen and chlorine in a jar and flashing a camera bulb at them? Pouring mercury on aluminum or watching a nail rust in selection of jars?

Bloodhound is interesting to you because you know the end result will be exciting and 10 years for a project to (then get binned because it’s out of money) produce a result doesn’t seem that bad. You’re interested in the little things, the process etc much more as an adult, as a child of the end result excites you you might (if we’re lucky) investigate further, which builds interest until your doing cold fusion in your garden shed. You don’t try getting kids excited about a fusion rector by bringing them along for the ride from inception to production.

Bloodhound is I’m afraid to say a bunch of “old blokes” doing because-they-can stuff. The car if and when finished might have a bit of wow factor but mainly it’s for big little kids, like a few £100 million lego kit.

Think of it this way – to get a kid interested in rocket science do you (a) show them a rocket launch, (b) explain about the importance of o-rings to shuttle design.

Or (c) give the kid a bottle of coke and a packet of mints. Many of my colleagues became scientists because they saw things that inspired them or did things firsthand, in the days when the chemist sold chemicals that could be used to make interesting products… from crystal gardens to more energetic materials.

Or (c) give the kid a bottle of coke and a packet of mints. Many of my colleagues became scientists because they saw things that inspired them or did things firsthand, in the days when the chemist sold chemicals that could be used to make interesting products… from crystal gardens to more energetic materials.

Yep, my interest in SW / Electronic Engineering came from playing on a ZX81 / BBC Micro, not watching the Shuttle launch etc…..

Bloodhound is I’m afraid to say a bunch of “old blokes” doing because-they-can stuff. The car if and when finished might have a bit of wow factor but mainly it’s for big little kids, like a few £100 million lego kit.

Think of it this way – to get a kid interested in rocket science do you (a) show them a rocket launch, (b) explain about the importance of o-rings to shuttle design.

But for (A) to happen requires some blokes in a very big shed to build the rocket. Any engineering is 99.99999999% boring routine, 0.000000001% 1000mph human piloted fireball across the desert, if it was the other way around no one would need inspiring.

In other news next years TdF has been canceled, it’s been replaced by Chris Froome weighing pasta whilst Contador eats some imported steak as that’s what the other 90% of his year consists of. This will hopefully inspire kids to ride their bikes.

My lad was interested in land speed cars just as Bloodhound came along. We went down to the very first supporters meeting and he (along with other kids) somehow sat through a day of lectures at age 7. Being able to approach Richard Noble and Andy Green left him speechless / frozen to the spot.

The education thing was at the front of the project from day one. We haven’t had much involvement since, but it has definitely been quite visible and active throughout school, press, museums, motorsport events etc. The boy just got grade 9 in 3 sciences at GCSE so maybe sparking early year interest does help a bit.

The engineering challenge is massive. Not just strap on a massive rocket as the whole speed up / slow down has to be precisely controlled to keep g levels survivable (you can’t just shut it off when flat out).

Hope they get the job finished, but in the background I’ve always been concerned how a fireball disaster would be explained to all the kids…..

Bloodhound is I’m afraid to say a bunch of “old blokes” doing because-they-can stuff

No I’d have to disagree on this there is an element of this yes but a lot of very you bright engineers have also gained some valuable insights on this job from those old blokes , and hopefully they are skills they will be able to take away<span style=”font-size: 0.8rem;”> and transfer across,  and whilst some of its basic stuff they would never get to do it in industry where they get pigeonholed into one area.</span>

Let’s not also forget that those kids grow and as they grow they learn more about the science and engineering underpinning the project. Keeping it relevant certainly helps.

Just seen on the BBC that they didn’t secure the funding so it’s looking like the end of the project.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-46480342

Ah that’s a shame, gutted

Gutted. Seemed inevitable, but I still had hope

Very disappointing. Not going to say it was a waste but to get so close and then get shut down is gutting.

Kerblam!

http://www.bloodhoundssc.com/news/frp-advisory-secures-future-bloodhound-project

Great news – just hope the key folk that got it to this point keep their jobs/roles and that balance of record breaking and education can be maintained. Also that all the sponsors that got it the bulk of the way there don’t have their logos scrubbed off the car to be replaced by a new lot.

It seems to have been rescued:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-46591860

Woohoo! Now just to wait for the next “what’s the point?” whinge

😬😬

Back in anger!

Bloodhound