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The World's Fastest Car

Whoosh! Kaboom! For Andy Green, a Royal Air Force pilot, that was the sound of success. Last Wednesday, Green rocketed into the history books by becoming the first person to drive a car faster than the speed of sound. His average speed: 763 miles per hour!

Green was not driving an ordinary car. He was driving the Thrust SSC (for Super Sonic Car), which has twin jet engines like those used on Phantom fighter planes. The car packs as much power as 1,000 Ford Escorts. It needs parachutes to help it stop.

Green had been building up speed for more than a month out in Nevada's Black Rock Desert. He had competition from American driver Craig Breedlove. But Breedlove's car couldn't keep up. On September 25, Green blasted away the old landspeed record of 633 miles per hour. His new record: 714 miles per hour.

Richard Noble, Green's fellow Englishman who set the old record in 1983, didn't mind seeing it bite the dust. Noble owns the Thrust SSC, so he was rooting for Green.

The ultimate dream for Noble and Green was to see their car travel faster than sound. The speed of sound varies, depending on weather conditions and altitude. In the Black Rock Desert, it is around 750 m.p.h.

Noble and Green finally saw their dream come true on October 15. When a plane or car reaches the speed of sound, people for miles around hear an explosive noise called a sonic boom. Each time the car broke through the sound barrier, a sonic boom thundered across the Black Rock Desert, announcing Green's amazing feat.

"We have achieved what we set out to do," he said. "We are finished."

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