Last week’s poll: the benefits of Bloodhound

Running solely on its Rolls-Royce EJ200 jet engine, Bloodhound steadily built up its speed during a series of tests on South Africa's Hakskeen Pan, topping out at over 1,000 km/h on its final run.

When it returns to the desert in the next 12-18 months, the addition of a hybrid rocket engine will provide another 40kN of thrust, and will hopefully see the vehicle claim the world land speed record and perhaps even push toward the 1,000 mph barrier.

It's a remarkable turnaround for a project that was on the ropes less than a year ago, and huge credit should go to new owner Ian Warhurst for not only rescuing the endeavour but for making such rapid progress in a relatively short space of time.

But what of the long term benefits of Bloodhound LSR? The STEM and educational impact of the programme has often been lauded, and our readers were largely in agreement that this will be Bloodhound's most prominent legacy. Almost two-thirds (62 per cent) said that inspiring tomorrow's engineers will be the most important benefit. A boost for UK engineering's standing was the next most popular answer, with 18 per cent of the vote. The remaining 20 per cent of respondents were equally split between those who felt the technological spin-offs would be the greatest benefit, and those who think there will be no appreciable benefits at all.