How do you stop a car traveling at 1,000 MPH?

The Bloodhound SSC, or better known as the top contender for the fastest land speed ever recorded, needs immense stopping power in order to actually decelerate from such a high speed. While most of deceleration is done by the air brakes and parachute, the car requires a spectacular set of brakes to take the car from zooming at 1,000 MPH to a complete standstill.

While traveling at 1,000 MPH, the car’s steel wheels will be spinning at 10,000 RPM. During just the test run, operating the vehicle at 500 MPH and 5,000 RPM, the jet plane carbon brakes used on the car completely shattered. In order to solve this dilemma, engineers then switches to extremely more durable steel brakes, and have found much success with the brakes being able to absorb up to 4.6 kilowatts of energy on a test stand without failing.

Royal Air Force pilot Andy Green will most likely be thankful for superior brakes when he tries to surpass his own land-speed record next year in South Africa. He has reached 763.05 mph back in October of 1997, driving the Thrust SSC, but now Green has set his sights on the 1,000-mph mark. To reach that goal, the Bloodhound SSC will feature both jet and rocket power, in addition to specially-constructed steel wheels (no rubber tires) that are extremely thin to reduce friction.

Below, I have posted a video made by the designers of the Bloodhound, that vividly describes the sheer amount of stopping power needed to halt the mammoth super car. Enjoy!