Nova Zhang
NASCARs have not broken the sound barrier, but there have been attempts to do so. In 1977, stuntwoman Kitty O'Neil drove the SMI Motivator to a woman's speed record of 512.71 mph. Her mentor, Hal Needham, wanted to break the sound barrier and hired his protégé, Stan Barrett, to drive a new car. On 17 December 1983, Barrett drove the Budweiser Rocket and reached a speed of 739.666 mph, 8 mph faster than the speed of sound. However, there is some debate about whether Barrett truly broke the sound barrier. The only car that has officially broken the sound barrier is the Thrust SSC, which achieved a speed of 763 mph in 1997.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Can NASCARs break the sound barrier? | No, only one car has ever broken the sound barrier, the Thrust SSC or Thrust SuperSonic Car. |
| Speed of Thrust SSC | 763 miles per hour |
| Date of record | 15 October 1997 |
| Location | Black Rock Desert, Nevada |
| Driver | Andrew Green, a former British Royal Air Force pilot |
| Speed of sound | Fluctuates according to altitude and temperature, but was approximately 732 mph when Thrust SSC broke the barrier |
| Previous record holders | Chuck Yeager, who broke the sound barrier in 1947 in a rocket plane; Stan Barrett, who drove a car 677 mph in 1983 but did not break the sound barrier |
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What You'll Learn
Stan Barrett's attempt in the Budweiser Rocket
On December 17, 1979, Stan Barrett, a Hollywood stuntman, made an attempt to break the sound barrier in the Budweiser Rocket. The Budweiser Rocket was a bright-red projectile powered by a hydrogen-peroxide motor that produced 24,000 pounds of thrust. The car was owned by Hal Needham, a former racer and movie director who had previously broken a nine-year-old world land-speed record. Needham had hired Barrett, a former boxing champion and black belt in two forms of karate, to drive the car and break the sound barrier.
Barrett's attempt took place at Rogers Dry Lake on Edwards Air Force Base in California. The conditions on the day were dry, with temperatures around 20 degrees Fahrenheit. To break the sound barrier under these conditions, Barrett had to exceed 731.9 miles per hour. He started the rocket engine, stepped on the gas, and then pushed a button to fire the Sidewinder missile, allowing him to reach even higher speeds.
Barrett's top speed was estimated to be 739.666 miles per hour, or Mach 1.01, which would have been faster than the speed of sound. However, the radar speedometers on the ground malfunctioned, and the speed of the Rocket was not officially recorded. The final speed estimate came from data provided by the Air Force, whose scanners indicated that the Rocket had "probably exceeded the speed of sound."
While Barrett's attempt was not officially recognized as a land speed record, it nonetheless represented a significant achievement. After the attempt, Barrett went on to race in 19 Winston Cup Series races during the 1980s, posting two top-ten finishes. The Budweiser Rocket car was donated to The Smithsonian in Washington, DC, where it remains as a testament to Barrett's daring attempt to break the sound barrier.
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The speed of sound varies
The speed of sound is not constant and varies depending on the substance through which the sound wave travels. In colloquial terms, the speed of sound refers to the speed of sound waves in the air. However, sound travels at different speeds in different materials. Typically, sound travels slowest in gases, faster in liquids, and fastest in solids. For example, while sound travels at 343 m/s in air, it travels at 1481 m/s in water and 5120 m/s in iron. In a stiff material like diamond, sound travels at 12,000 m/s, which is about 35 times faster than in air.
The speed of sound in a gas like air varies with temperature, the molar mass of the gas, and the type of molecule. For instance, sound travels faster in warm air than in cold air. In solids, the speed of transverse or shear waves depends on the shear deformation under shear stress (the shear modulus) and the density of the medium. Longitudinal or compression waves in solids depend on the same factors, with the addition of a dependence on compressibility.
In fluids, only the medium's compressibility and density are the important factors, as fluids do not transmit shear stresses. In heterogeneous fluids, like a liquid filled with gas bubbles, the density of the liquid and the compressibility of the gas affect the speed of sound. This is known as the hot chocolate effect.
The speed of sound also varies with altitude, with temperature (and thus the speed of sound) decreasing with increasing altitude up to 11 km. This creates an acoustic shadow at some distance from the source, as sound is refracted upward, away from listeners on the ground. However, in the stratosphere above 20 km, the speed of sound increases with height due to an increase in temperature from heating within the ozone layer. This results in a positive speed of sound gradient in this region.
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The Thrust SSC: the only car to break the sound barrier
On 15 October 1997, the Thrust SSC became the first and only car to break the sound barrier, reaching a speed of 1,227.985 km/h (763.035 mph). Driven by former British Royal Air Force pilot Andy Green, the Thrust SSC achieved this record-breaking speed in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada.
The Thrust SSC, or Thrust SuperSonic Car, is powered by two afterburning Rolls-Royce Spey turbofan engines, typically used on the British version of the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II jet. It measures 54 ft (16.5 m) in length and 12 ft (3.7 m) in width, weighing nearly 10 tons. The car produces a total thrust of 223 kN, which is approximately 50,000 pounds of force.
The record set by the Thrust SSC was significant not only for breaking the sound barrier but also for surpassing the previous land speed record. Prior to the Thrust SSC, the land speed record was held by Richard Noble, who achieved a speed of 1,019 km/h (633 mph) in his car, Thrust2, in 1983. Interestingly, the Thrust SSC broke the sound barrier exactly 50 years and one day after Chuck Yeager first broke the sound barrier in Earth's atmosphere in the Bell X-1 research rocket plane on 14 October 1947.
The Thrust SSC is now on display at the Coventry Transport Museum in Coventry, England, where visitors can learn about its remarkable achievement and the engineering that made it possible. The car remains a testament to human ingenuity and our pursuit of breaking barriers, with several teams currently competing to surpass its record, including the Bloodhound LSR project.
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The sound barrier was first broken in 1947
Breaking the sound barrier refers to achieving supersonic flight, which was first accomplished in 1947. At the time, approaching the speed of sound in aircraft was believed to be extremely difficult or impossible due to a number of adverse aerodynamic effects. These effects, caused by compressibility, created a drag that impeded flight at speeds close to the speed of sound.
On October 14, 1947, Captain Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager became the first person to break the sound barrier in level flight. Piloting the Bell X-1 rocket-propelled experimental aircraft at an altitude of 45,000 feet, Yeager successfully exceeded the speed of sound. This achievement demonstrated that safe flight at the speed of sound was possible in purpose-designed aircraft, paving the way for future advancements in aviation and supersonic flight.
It is worth noting that there were earlier claims of breaking the sound barrier, particularly during and immediately after World War II. However, these were mostly dismissed as instrumentation errors or were not properly monitored and officially recognized. For example, George Welch claimed to have achieved supersonic speed on October 1, 1947, but his flights were not officially recognized due to a lack of proper monitoring.
The breaking of the sound barrier by Yeager in 1947 marked a significant milestone in aviation history, proving that supersonic flight was achievable and opening up new possibilities for aircraft design and performance.
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The speed record is 763 miles per hour
The speed record is an impressive 763 miles per hour. This was achieved by former British Royal Air Force pilot Andy Green, who drove the Thrust SSC (Thrust SuperSonic Car) in Nevada's Black Rock Desert on October 15, 1997. The car broke the sound barrier, producing a supersonic boom that Green described as a "loud, high-pitched scream."
The Thrust SSC was powered by two afterburning Rolls-Royce Spey turbofan engines, which are typically used in the British version of the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II jet. With a length of 54 feet, a width of 12 feet, and a weight of nearly 10 tons, it is a massive vehicle. It generates approximately 50,000 pounds of force, requiring the deployment of a parachute to slow down and stop after its record-breaking run.
The record-breaking speed of 763 mph was reached 50 years and one day after Chuck Yeager first broke the sound barrier in a rocket plane, the Bell X-1, on October 14, 1947. This coincidence lent prophetic significance to the "SSC" in the Thrust SSC's name, which stood for "SuperSonic Car."
The Thrust SSC is now on display at the Coventry Transport Museum in Coventry, England, where visitors can view the car and experience a 4D simulation of Green's record-breaking run. The car remains one of the most exceptional ever built and serves as a testament to the pursuit of speed and the breaking of the sound barrier.
While NASCARs have not broken the sound barrier, the pursuit of speed records continues to captivate and inspire, with projects like the Bloodhound LSR and the North American Eagle Project taking up the challenge.
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Frequently asked questions
No, only one car has ever broken the sound barrier, the Thrust SSC.
The Thrust SSC, or Thrust SuperSonic Car, broke the sound barrier in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada on October 15, 1997, achieving a speed of 763 miles per hour.
The Thrust SSC was driven by former British Royal Air Force pilot Andy Green.
The speed of sound is approximately 732 miles per hour, though it fluctuates according to altitude and temperature.
