WENDOVER, Utah (AP) The first and only person to break the sound barrier in a car hits the track in Utah this week with new wheels and his eye on another record.
Twenty years ago, British driver Andy Green set the land speed record for a diesel-powered car, reaching 350.092 mph (563.4 kph) at Utahs famous Bonneville Salt Flats . Green will return to the lunarlike landscape Tuesday and try to beat that mark, this time with a hydrogen-powered car.
The retired Royal Air Force fighter pilot aims not only to win another accolade but to showcase the power of hydrogen as a clean-energy alternative . Its the fuel of the future, Green told The Associated Press in a July interview.
Green will be driving the 32-foot (9.75-meter) JCB Hydromax, the brainchild of British construction equipment manufacturer JCB. The car is bright yellow, long and slim, resembling a pencil. Its powered by two hydrogen internal combustion engines with a combined 1,600 horsepower, which were adapted from engines used in the companys construction machinery. They mix pressurized hydrogen gas with air and ignite it to create bursts of power.
In targeting the diesel-powered record, Green also hopes to easily clear the world land speed records for hydrogen internal combustion engines (185.5 mph/298.5 kph) and electric vehicles (341.3 mph/549.2 kph).
Green hit a new top speed of 368.347 mph (592.797 kph) in practice last week, but to officially earn the hydrogen record, hell have to do it Tuesday in front of the Fdration Internationale de lAutomobile, the international governing body of motor sports.
What the peak speed is, I cant say. We just dont know, he said. Part of the adventure here is were going to find out.
One thing Tuesdays attempt will assuredly not do is approach the supersonic speeds Green reached with jet power three decades ago.
Green had already been flying supersonic military aircraft when he spotted a newspaper ad that read: Wanted: High-speed driver to break the sound barrier, according to the Guinness World Records. In 1997, he traveled faster than the speed of sound and set the outright land speed record 763.035 mph (1,227.98 kph) in a car powered by twin jet engines. His runs in Nevadas Black Rock Desert produced sonic booms that shook the nearby town of Gerlach.
Now 64 years old, Green said he thought he was done racing but came out of retirement when JCB approached him with plans for the new car. The company has invested more than $134 million into hydrogen-powered engines that it says emit no carbon dioxide from the tailpipes.
If youre serious about emissions, you have to be serious about hydrogen, and a land speed project is the perfect way to prove it, JCB Chair Anthony Bamford said at the cars unveiling in May. Bamford has also argued that hydrogen can better handle the demands of heavy industries than electric power.
But hydrogen is only as clean as its source, and the vast majority is currently produced from fossil fuels. JCB signed a deal to buy green hydrogen , which is created using renewable energy but makes up a tiny fraction of global hydrogen production.
Hydrogen combustion engines also present unique safety challenges due to the high pressure and flammability of the gas.
Were managing the risks very carefully, Green said. The car endured rigorous testing, and Green said he spent months learning how it responds to the elements, how the engines work in tandem and how to deploy a parachute to slow the car on the low-friction salt crust.
Since the first race there in 1914, the glassy surface of the Bonneville Salt Flats has drawn generations of drivers seeking to set new land speed records. A remnant of a prehistoric lake bed, the salt flats are about 100 miles (160 kilometers) west of Salt Lake City and sit atop an aquifer that cools the tires of the cars.
Spectators must stand about a quarter of a mile (400 meters) from the courses straightaway, which is 10 miles (16 kilometers) long, and often watch through wide-angle binoculars.
The expanse on the border of Utah and Nevada has also been a backdrop for movies including Independence Day and The Worlds Fastest Indian, and the series finale of Mad Men.
Green will start about an hour before sunrise Tuesday. His attempt comes a year after a driver going 283 mph (455 kph) died trying to set a land speed record at Bonnevilles annual Speed Week . Chris Raschke lost control of his rocketlike vehicle called the Speed Demon last August and died from his injuries.
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Rico reported from Atlanta. Video journalist Serge Cartwright contributed reporting.
美联社犹他州温多弗电——首位也是唯一一位驾驶汽车突破音障的挑战者，本周携新座驾重返犹他州赛道，目光锁定下一项纪录。
二十年前，英国车手安迪·格林驾驶柴油动力汽车，在犹他州著名的博纳维尔盐滩创下时速350.092英里（563.4公里）的陆地速度纪录。本周二，格林将重返这片月球般的地貌，尝试驾驶氢动力汽车突破这一纪录。
这位退役的英国皇家空军战斗机飞行员不仅志在再获殊荣，更希望向世人展示氢能作为清洁能源替代品的潜力。格林在七月接受美联社采访时表示，氢能是"未来的燃料"。
格林将驾驶这辆32英尺（9.75米）长的JCB Hydromax，这是英国工程机械制造商JCB的创意之作。该车采用明黄色涂装，修长纤细的车身宛如一支铅笔。其动力源自两台氢内燃机，总功率达1600马力——这些发动机由该公司工程机械所用机型改造而成。它们将加压氢气与空气混合后点燃，从而产生爆发性动力。
在挑战柴油动力纪录的同时，格林还希望轻松打破氢内燃机（185.5英里/小时，约合298.5公里/小时）和电动汽车（341.3英里/小时，约合549.2公里/小时）的世界陆地速度纪录。
格林在上周的练习中创下了368.347英里/小时（592.797公里/小时）的新极速纪录，但若想正式获得氢动力赛车纪录认证，他必须在本周二国际汽车联合会（FIA）——这一全球赛车运动管理机构——的见证下再次达成这一成绩。
“最高速度是多少，我说不上来。我们确实不知道，”他说。“这次冒险的部分意义就在于我们将揭开这个谜底。”
周二的尝试有一点是绝对无法做到的，那就是接近格林三十年前借助喷气动力达到的超音速。
据《吉尼斯世界纪录》记载，格林（Green）在发现一则报纸广告时，已经是一名驾驶超音速军用飞机的飞行员。广告上写着：『招聘：高速驾驶员以突破音障。』1997年，他驾驶一辆由双喷气发动机驱动的汽车，以超过音速的速度行驶，创造了绝对陆地速度纪录——763.035英里/小时（1227.98公里/小时）。他在内华达州黑岩沙漠的疾驰产生了音爆，震动了附近的格拉赫镇。
现年64岁的格林表示，他原本以为自己已告别赛车生涯，但当JCB公司带着新型氢能汽车计划找到他时，他决定复出。该公司已投入逾1.34亿美元研发氢动力发动机，据称这种发动机的排气管可实现二氧化碳零排放。
JCB集团董事长安东尼·班福德（Anthony Bamford）在5月的车辆发布会上表示："若想真正解决排放问题，就必须重视氢能源技术，而陆地极速项目正是验证其可行性的最佳途径。"班福德还提出，相比电力，氢能更适用于满足重工业领域的能源需求。
但氢能源的清洁程度取决于其来源，而目前绝大多数氢能仍产自化石燃料。英国工程机械制造商JCB已签署协议购买绿氢——这种通过可再生能源制备的氢能虽仅占全球产量的极小份额，却代表着清洁能源的未来方向。
由于氢气具有高压和易燃的特性，氢燃料内燃机也带来了独特的安全挑战。
“我们正在非常谨慎地管理风险，”格林说道。这辆车经过了严格的测试，格林表示他花费了数月时间研究车辆如何应对自然环境、发动机如何协同工作，以及如何在低摩擦盐壳上使用降落伞减速。
自1914年首次举办赛事以来，邦纳维尔盐滩（Bonneville Salt Flats）如镜面般的平坦地表吸引了无数追求陆上极速纪录的车手前来挑战。这片远古湖床的遗迹位于盐湖城以西约100英里（160公里）处，其下方蕴藏着含水层，能够有效冷却飞驰车辆的轮胎。
观众必须站在距赛道直线段约四分之一英里（400米）处，该直线段全长10英里（16公里），通常需通过广角双筒望远镜观看。
这片位于犹他州与内华达州交界处的广袤地域，还曾作为《独立日》《世界上最快的印第安人》等电影以及《广告狂人》剧集终章的取景地。
格林将于周二日出前约一小时开始挑战。此次尝试正值邦纳维尔盐滩年度极速周活动期间——一年前，一名车手以时速283英里（455公里）冲击陆地速度纪录时不幸身亡。去年八月，克里斯·拉斯克驾驶名为"速度恶魔"的火箭式赛车失控后伤重不治。
里科从亚特兰大发回报道。视频记者塞尔日·卡特赖特对报道亦有贡献。
