It will be faster than a speeding bullet: a pencil-shaped car powered by a jet engine and a rocket, roaring across a desert at 1,000mph.

If all goes to plan, Bloodhound SSC will break the land speed record by the largest ever margin, and, in 40 seconds of breathtaking thrust, inspire thousands of British school children to take science A levels.

Today, at the Science Museum, the project to build this car will be announced by Lord Drayson, the Science Minister, who in 2006 first proposed the project to the two men who between them have held the land speed record for 25 years.

Richard Noble, engineer, adventurer, and former wallpaper salesman, reached 633mph (1,019km/h) as he drove a turbojet-powered car named Thrust 2 across the Nevada desert. In 1997, he headed the project to build the Thrust SSC, driven by Andy Green, an RAF pilot, at 766mph.

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Lord Drayson could understand the desire to drive fast. In his spare time, he raced his Aston Martin DBRS9 around Silverstone at up to 160mph.

“Andy Green was one of my personal heroes,” he said. “I wanted to meet him. At the time there was a rumour that Steve Fossett [the late American businessman and aviator] was building a car that would do 800mph. They said they could do 1,000mph.

“I thought, wow. What's it like to drive 1,000mph? How cool is that?” He told the two men that Britain's shortage of science graduates was so serious that the MoD was struggling to recruit enough engineers. (This month the Science Minister tried a different tack to encourage children to study maths and physics, by declaring his support for manned space missions.)

The task of driving the vehicle will fall to Wing Commander Green, 46, who will lie feet-first in the Bloodhound. As the car accelerates, from 0-1,050mph in 40 seconds, he will experience a force of 2.5G (2 times his bodyweight) and the blood will rush to his head.

As he decelerates, experiencing forces of up to 3G, the blood will drain to his feet and he could black out. He will practise for this pounding in a stunt aircraft, flying upside-down over the British countryside.

Since the car covers the length of four football pitches every second, he will require lightning reflexes. In 1997, as Thrust SSC passed through the sound barrier, it swung sideways and he locked the steering wheel at 90 degrees to recover.

Mr Noble said: “The car was probably a few thousandths of an inch out on one side and it blew 100ft left.”

No one is sure what problems await a car that travels 300mph faster.

A prototype jet engine, developed for the Eurofighter and bound for a museum, was donated to the project. This will take the car to 300mph, after which a “bespoke”' hybrid rocket designed by Daniel “Rocket Dan” Jubb, 24, from Manchester, who built his first rocket at the age of 5, and now supplies the US military, will boost the car up to 1,000mph.

The Eurofighter engine and models of the car and the hybrid rocket are on display at the Science Museum until November 28

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