The land-speed record

　　地面速度記錄

　　How to build a 1,000mph car

　　怎樣建造時速1000英里的汽車

　　Hybrid rocketry will be used to drive faster than everbefore

　　混合火箭技術將用于更快地驅動車輛

　　May 5th 2011 | from the print edition

　　It looks quick, too

　　它看起來就快

　　THIS summer Daniel Jubb will perform the equivalent of lighting the blue touch paper andstanding clear. The 27-year-old will undertake the first full test firing of a hybrid rocket whichhe has designed to help a British team set a new land-speed record by driving at 1,000mph. Mr Jubbs rocket, however, will also need the assistance of a powerful EJ200 jetengine from a Typhoon fighter aircraft and a Cosworth Formula 1 racing engine if BloodhoundSSC is to become the fastest thing on wheels.

　　今年夏天丹尼爾?兆伯要做的事，相當于點燃導火索然后跑開。這個27歲的小伙子將進行一枚混合式火箭發動機的第一次全程試射，他設計這枚火箭發動機用于幫助英國車隊創造一個以時速1000英里驅動的地面速度記錄。然而，如果偵探犬號超音速車要想成為靠輪子跑得最快的東西，那么兆伯的火箭發動機還將需要一個強大的臺風戰斗機EJ200噴氣發動機和一個考斯沃斯一級方程式賽車發動機的輔助。

　　Combining a rocket, a jet and a racing-car engine into one vehicle is engineering of an extremesort, but record-breaking often demands that new problems be solved. Mr Jubbs task was tobuild a rocket that could be used safely in a car, but was also controllable and could beswitched off quickly in the event of an emergency.

　　將火箭發動機、噴氣式發動機和賽車發動機整合到一部車里，是一種極不尋常的設計，但是破紀錄經常需要解決很多新問題。兆伯的工作是建造一枚可以在汽車里安全使用的火箭發動機，但是它也要可控制并且在出現緊急情況時可以快速關掉。

　　A rocket works by burning fuel with an oxidiser,which provides a source of oxygen for combustion.The hot exhaust gases are then blasted through anozzle to produce thrust. Rockets using liquidpropellants can be shut down reasonably easily byturning off the pumps delivering the fuel andoxidiser, but they tend to be complex and theirpropellants, such as liquid hydrogen and liquidoxygen, difficult and hazardous to handle.

　　火箭發動機工作通過燃燒帶有氧化劑的燃料，氧化劑提供燃燒需要的氧氣，排放的熱氣于是通過一個噴嘴噴出以產生推力。使用液態推進劑的火箭發動機可以通過關閉輸送燃料和氧化劑的泵而被相當容易地關掉，但是它們往往很復雜，而且它們的推進劑操作困難且有危險性，比如液態氫和液態氧。

　　Solid-fuel rockets, in which the fuel and oxidiser are pre-mixed into a stable, solid propellantand then packed inside the case of the rocket, are simpler, lighter and relatively safer. But oncea solid-fuel rocket is ignited, it is off like a firework and keeps going until all the fuel is burnedup. About the only way to stop it is to blow it apart. In a car, that would not do.

　　固體燃料火箭發動機的構造更簡單、分量更輕，而且相對更安全。在固體燃料火箭發動機里，燃料和氧化劑被預先混合成穩定的液態推進劑，然后被塞滿火箭發動機的燃料箱里。但是一旦固體燃料火箭發動機被點燃，它將象二踢腳一樣發射出去并一直跑，直到全部燃料燒完為止。是它停止的幾乎唯一的方法，就是將它甩掉。而在汽車上，這做不到。

　　Rubber power

　　橡膠動力

　　The hybrid design which Mr Jubb has come up with uses a solid fuel called hydroxyl-terminatedpolybutadiene, a form of synthetic rubber used to make things like aircraft tyres. It iscontained within the case of the rocket, into which is pumped a liquid oxidiser called high-testperoxide , a concentrated form of hydrogen peroxide which is relatively safe to handle.When the HTP comes into contact with a catalyst contained within the rocket, it turns intosteam and oxygen. And it does so at a high enough temperature to ignite the solid fuel. Thisprovides the added advantage of not having to build an ignition system into the rocket.

　　兆伯提出的混合設計使用一種叫做端羥基聚丁二烯的固體燃料。端羥基聚丁二烯是一種合成橡膠，用于制造象飛機輪胎等這樣的東西，它被置于火箭發動機的燃料箱里，一種叫做高揮發性過氧化氫的液體燃料被吸入燃料箱。高揮發性過氧化氫是過氧化氫的濃縮形態，它操作起來相對安全。當HTP接觸到火箭發動機內的催化劑時，就轉變成氣體和氧氣。在足以點燃固體燃料的高溫中，HTP就是這樣反應的。這一過程有一個另外的好處，就是不必為火箭發動機建造一個點火系統。

　　If the hybrid rocket needs to be shut down in a hurry all you need do is turn off the pumpdelivering the oxidiser. That is where the Cosworth engine comes in. Apart from generatingauxiliary power for Bloodhound SSCs electrical and hydraulic systems, it also drives a high-speed pump capable of delivering all 800 litres of HTP in the tank to the rocket in 20 seconds.

　　如果混合火箭發動機需要立即關掉，那么你需要做的全部事情就是關掉傳送氧化劑的泵。那個泵位于接入考斯沃斯發動機處。除了給偵探犬號超音速車的電子及液壓系統產生輔助動力之外，它還驅動一個能在20秒內將燃料箱里的全部800升的HTP輸送給火箭發動機的高速泵。

　　The land-speed record

　　地面速度記錄

　　How to build a 1,000mph car

　　怎樣建造時速1000英里的汽車

　　Hybrid rocketry will be used to drive faster than everbefore

　　混合火箭技術將用于更快地驅動車輛

　　May 5th 2011 | from the print edition

　　It looks quick, too

　　它看起來就快

　　THIS summer Daniel Jubb will perform the equivalent of lighting the blue touch paper andstanding clear. The 27-year-old will undertake the first full test firing of a hybrid rocket whichhe has designed to help a British team set a new land-speed record by driving at 1,000mph. Mr Jubbs rocket, however, will also need the assistance of a powerful EJ200 jetengine from a Typhoon fighter aircraft and a Cosworth Formula 1 racing engine if BloodhoundSSC is to become the fastest thing on wheels.

　　今年夏天丹尼爾?兆伯要做的事，相當于點燃導火索然后跑開。這個27歲的小伙子將進行一枚混合式火箭發動機的第一次全程試射，他設計這枚火箭發動機用于幫助英國車隊創造一個以時速1000英里驅動的地面速度記錄。然而，如果偵探犬號超音速車要想成為靠輪子跑得最快的東西，那么兆伯的火箭發動機還將需要一個強大的臺風戰斗機EJ200噴氣發動機和一個考斯沃斯一級方程式賽車發動機的輔助。

　　Combining a rocket, a jet and a racing-car engine into one vehicle is engineering of an extremesort, but record-breaking often demands that new problems be solved. Mr Jubbs task was tobuild a rocket that could be used safely in a car, but was also controllable and could beswitched off quickly in the event of an emergency.

　　將火箭發動機、噴氣式發動機和賽車發動機整合到一部車里，是一種極不尋常的設計，但是破紀錄經常需要解決很多新問題。兆伯的工作是建造一枚可以在汽車里安全使用的火箭發動機，但是它也要可控制并且在出現緊急情況時可以快速關掉。

　　A rocket works by burning fuel with an oxidiser,which provides a source of oxygen for combustion.The hot exhaust gases are then blasted through anozzle to produce thrust. Rockets using liquidpropellants can be shut down reasonably easily byturning off the pumps delivering the fuel andoxidiser, but they tend to be complex and theirpropellants, such as liquid hydrogen and liquidoxygen, difficult and hazardous to handle.

　　火箭發動機工作通過燃燒帶有氧化劑的燃料，氧化劑提供燃燒需要的氧氣，排放的熱氣于是通過一個噴嘴噴出以產生推力。使用液態推進劑的火箭發動機可以通過關閉輸送燃料和氧化劑的泵而被相當容易地關掉，但是它們往往很復雜，而且它們的推進劑操作困難且有危險性，比如液態氫和液態氧。

　　Solid-fuel rockets, in which the fuel and oxidiser are pre-mixed into a stable, solid propellantand then packed inside the case of the rocket, are simpler, lighter and relatively safer. But oncea solid-fuel rocket is ignited, it is off like a firework and keeps going until all the fuel is burnedup. About the only way to stop it is to blow it apart. In a car, that would not do.

　　固體燃料火箭發動機的構造更簡單、分量更輕，而且相對更安全。在固體燃料火箭發動機里，燃料和氧化劑被預先混合成穩定的液態推進劑，然后被塞滿火箭發動機的燃料箱里。但是一旦固體燃料火箭發動機被點燃，它將象二踢腳一樣發射出去并一直跑，直到全部燃料燒完為止。是它停止的幾乎唯一的方法，就是將它甩掉。而在汽車上，這做不到。

　　Rubber power

　　橡膠動力

　　The hybrid design which Mr Jubb has come up with uses a solid fuel called hydroxyl-terminatedpolybutadiene, a form of synthetic rubber used to make things like aircraft tyres. It iscontained within the case of the rocket, into which is pumped a liquid oxidiser called high-testperoxide , a concentrated form of hydrogen peroxide which is relatively safe to handle.When the HTP comes into contact with a catalyst contained within the rocket, it turns intosteam and oxygen. And it does so at a high enough temperature to ignite the solid fuel. Thisprovides the added advantage of not having to build an ignition system into the rocket.

　　兆伯提出的混合設計使用一種叫做端羥基聚丁二烯的固體燃料。端羥基聚丁二烯是一種合成橡膠，用于制造象飛機輪胎等這樣的東西，它被置于火箭發動機的燃料箱里，一種叫做高揮發性過氧化氫的液體燃料被吸入燃料箱。高揮發性過氧化氫是過氧化氫的濃縮形態，它操作起來相對安全。當HTP接觸到火箭發動機內的催化劑時，就轉變成氣體和氧氣。在足以點燃固體燃料的高溫中，HTP就是這樣反應的。這一過程有一個另外的好處，就是不必為火箭發動機建造一個點火系統。

　　If the hybrid rocket needs to be shut down in a hurry all you need do is turn off the pumpdelivering the oxidiser. That is where the Cosworth engine comes in. Apart from generatingauxiliary power for Bloodhound SSCs electrical and hydraulic systems, it also drives a high-speed pump capable of delivering all 800 litres of HTP in the tank to the rocket in 20 seconds.

　　如果混合火箭發動機需要立即關掉，那么你需要做的全部事情就是關掉傳送氧化劑的泵。那個泵位于接入考斯沃斯發動機處。除了給偵探犬號超音速車的電子及液壓系統產生輔助動力之外，它還驅動一個能在20秒內將燃料箱里的全部800升的HTP輸送給火箭發動機的高速泵。