1000 MPH Supersonic Car - Bloodhound(SSC)

I just found this article about a 1,000mph supersonic car called the Bloodhound(SSC).
I found the article on Yahoo Buzz and it is written by a Mike Krumboltz.
Below is a video depicting an animated representation of this vehicle.
The Bloodhound has a grand total of 135,000 horsepower, which is equal to 180 times the power of a formula one car.
As soon as the Bloodhound is fully assembled (hopefully by late 2011 or early 2012), the team will attempt to sniff out a new world land speed record. The current record belongs to the Thrust SuperSonic Car, which hit 763 mph back in 1997.
I am not sure how anyone could control a vehicle moving that fast. You would think that it would need a really wide wheelbase just to keep the vehicle under control. I guess that is why these folks get paid the big bucks.
The more I think about it, the more questions I come up with...
How much fuel does it take to get up to 1,000 mph?
How long does it take to achieve that type of speed?
Even bigger question....how do you stop this speeding bullet? I am pretty sure that it does not a conventional break system. Does it have a parachute that pops out when it does finally slow down?
Does it eventually slow down when you turn the engines off? How long would it take to be completely stopped??....does the have anything to do with inertia????

Damn...I knew that I should have stayed awake during my Physics class!!!!

Supersonic Car Demo: Bloodhound SSC @ Yahoo! Video

Here is a link to the full story.. Bloodhound Supersonic Car

Our eDocs Have Arrived

A couple of days ago, we received our eDocs from NCL...Norwegian Cruise Line.
eDocs are documents and important paperwork that Veronica and I need in order to board the ship. You print the Edocs so that you have an actual hardcopy of all the paperwork that we will need.
Our actual cruise tickets are part of our eDocs paperwork.
Our eDocs also included our overseas flight information and etickets for that flight, our itinerary for this cruise, paperwork for our transfers from when we arrive at Heathrow and are transferred to the ship and from the ship back to Heathrow when our cruise is finished.
We will be bused from Heathrow to Dover, which is where the NCL Sun will be docked for embarkation.
I believe that Dover is about 1 1/2 hours away from Heathrow.
For our flights, we will be flying Virgin Atlantic.
The flight each way is approximately 7 hours long. This will be the longest flight that either Veronica or I have ever taken.
I have already picked out our seats...way back in row 62. I picked that area mainly because that was the only area where we could sit together, it is close to the bathrooms and there are only 2 seats on that side of the plane...a window seat and a aisle seat. They had plenty of seats in the center of the plane where they had like 4-5 seats across in each row but who wants to be stuck in the middle with people all around you for 7 hours. We like a little space.
We are flying economy class. I checked on upgrading us to premium economy but the upgrade costs are unbelievable.
Our flight is leaving out of Newark at approximately 9PM on and we arrive at Heathrow on Wednesday morning at approximately 9-9:30 the following morning. There are several time changes between Newark and London Heathrow.
We then have to get our luggage and meet with an NCL representative at the Heathrow Arrival Lounge in terminal #3 and from there we go to our bus for our transfer to the ship.
The day before this overseas flight, we will be heading to a hotel in the Norfolk area so that we can get a good nights sleep before our early morning flight from Norfolk to Newark.
We will be arriving in the Newark airport in the morning and we will have to get our luggage from that early morning flight and then check in our luggage for the overseas flight with Virgin Atlantic.
We will have plenty of time to hang out in the Newark airport since our overseas flight does not leave Newark until that evening.
We plan on sleeping as much as possible on that overseas flight.
We return on Virgin Atlantic...a flight that leaves Heathrow at approximately 4:20 PM and arrives in Newark at approximately 7:00 PM. Once again, times changes several times on the return flight and with all of those time changes, I am sure that our body clocks will be messed up.
Once we have landed and obtained our luggage, we will be staying in a hotel in the Newark area.
Our return flight to Norfolk isn't until early the following morning.
Upon arriving back in Norfolk, it is an approximately 2 hour drive home.
This sure is going to be a very different adventure that neither Veronica or I are accustomed to but we both are very excited and thankful for this opportunity to go abroad.
We have been picking up a few items for this adventure and for future adventures.
On e item that we just purchased was a new security shoulder purse for Veronica. It has slash proof sides and bottom ways of securing the zippers and a slash proof shoulder strap. This type of purse is used where the strap goes across your body.
We also purchased a small lightweight travel steamer to get the wrinkles out of our clothes.
I got myself one of those security wallets that strap around my body and is worn under my clothes...next to my skin.
Just a few security items to protect ourselves from pick pockets and such.
We have not yet decided on how many suitcases to take with us. Minimum will be 3 and maximum will be 4.
Because we are flying Economy class, we will have to pay for each bag we check in and pay for them round trip and each bag can only weigh a maximum of just over 50 pounds....23 kg if I remember correctly. This can add up rather quickly but we would rather have some extra room in our suitcases for some goodies that we find and want to bring home.
We are just about at the 50 day out mark for this big adventure.
If I think about it too much, those days will slowly drag by.

And Then The Skies Opened Up

The night before last we had some interesting weather pass through our area. I decided to venture out on our 2nd story balcony, that is right outside of our bedroom, and took some photos.
The closer the storm got to us, the darker the clouds got.
It got real quiet for a moment and then the wind started to really pick up.
I started searching for a funnel cloud thinking that a tornado was a possibility.
I did not see any circular movement to the clouds nor anything else that might indicate that a tornado was probable.
Next thing I know, the skies broke loose and we ended up with torrential downpours that lasted a good 1/2-3/4 of an hour.
Both Veronica and I love a good thunderstorm...no tornadoes or hurricanes but a good thunderstorm, with the light show and all of the thunder...now that's some good stuff.
We have not had very many yet, at least since we have lived here.

This was what it looked like when it got real quiet and then the wind really picked up.