by Simon Coates
The Palatia-Sonnar X1 Speed Project
When Sunstar set the highest ever speed achieved on official test runs of 1.2 million mph with their Type C spaceship, their reputation was sealed in producing the most exciting spaceships people could own and use on the public highway. This record lasted many years, and when Formula X racing began, people thought that this record would be consigned to the history books. The Type C had a huge 5,000 THz engine, but would be no match for the pure racers. However, despite racing machines easily beating the speed on their test runs and during races, the key was that no team had ever officially submitted their racer for an official test, so the record remained.
It was Palatia-Sonnar who threw down the gauntlet in 2289 with a project that aimed to not only beat the record but totally annihilate it. When they sat down to plan their attempt, they first calculated how fast their current Formula X racing machine could go. Their racer at the time was the Nebulus 1, which they simulated on a test run using computer models, and worked out that if they tuned it up to the absolute maximum it would probably achieve around 4 million mph. Impressive, and that might have been how Palatia-Sonnar decided to go, until someone pointed out that the speed of light was 670 million mph, so a target was set - 6.7 million mph, or one percent of this ultimate speed. For a marketing point of view, this target was clear and obvious as achieving this would be extremely prestigious. It was clear even a Formula X racing machine would be nowhere near capable of the performance required, so the team embarked on a project that involved designing and developing a completely bespoke and unique spaceship, dubbed he 'X1' with the ultimate objective of achieving that seemingly impossible speed.
Palatia-Sonnar set out the project to run for three years. The first year would be to develop a useable spaceship, with some test runs, which would move into year two for the first proper attempts to break this ultimate record, and the third year as a final year to set a definitive top speed.
The ship itself used a lot of unique ideas. The basic design of the ship was along the same lines as a Formula X racer, but a lot bigger, as it was powered by a solid fuel cell to go alongside the nuclear engine. The team realised it would need a simply astonishing amount of power to achieve the required speed. An engine producing energy on the go as per a normal spaceship would simply not be enough, hence why it had the added fuel cell. During the planning stages, computer models were used to calculate the amount of power required from the engine, each week seemingly adding thousands of terahertz. At first, they planned to have 55,000, but eventually settled on 85,000 THz, which would instantly set a record for the most powerful machine ever produced by humans when the engine was built. The power figure was truly terrifying, no one had any idea how this would work in the real world. Works Palatia-Sonnar pilot Plius Jil'kol was the person chosen to fly the machine, which was ready at the end of 2289. The test run would be a set course between Earth and the Moon, over a three-week period when the authorities gave confirmation that it could be done, so that the X1 was the only spaceship flying in that section of space for a duration of time. This was a small window of opportunity for the team to set their speed record.
The runs were blighted with problems, however, with the engine never running under full power. Despite this, they did manage to achieve a speed of 2 million mph, so a new record had been set. Plius said it was simply staggering, he had never flown anything like it. He said that he couldn't fly it steadily, it was badly balanced, but it showed phenomenal potential. The team packed up, ready to go a year later.
Their second attempt went much better. The ship had numerous improvements, and the atmosphere within the team was positive as they flew the ship again. History repeated itself again, however, with the ship having problems running at full power. Despite this, they did improve the record, to 3.6 million mph, which had at least put it beyond the capabilities of a Formula X racer.
Onto 2291, and with Plius retiring from Formula X for that season, the speed attempt would be his last motorsport event. This time the team put everything into their runs, with an early flight giving 4.7 million mph, with the ship performing really well. However, this proved to be a high point, and subsequent runs couldn't match this speed, so this figure became the top speed achieved by the X1 in that year.
The team decided not to continue for 2292, and with that the speed record was finally set at 4.7 million, a record that remains to this day. With no plans on the horizon from any other team to attempt to break this record, the record is likely to remain on the shelf for many years. Plius said of his record attempts:
"The ship was absolutely amazing. The complexity was far greater than anything I had seen before or since, quite a work of art. The power figure of 85,000 THz was unprecedented, the most powerful engine ever created, before or since. We set out to break the speed record and put it on the shelf, and to that end we succeeded. However for us, the ultimate number was 6.7 million miles per hour, or one per cent of the highest speed there is, to which we failed. The guys did a great job, but not achieving this does leave a tinge of disappointment. And yes it hurts a bit, but boy was it a great thing to do. It is a pity Palatia-Sonnar canned the project after three years but these things cost vast amounts of money and I can fully understand their decision. One thing that will stay with me forever was the sound of the engine. It was absolutely amazing at full throttle."
In 2298 Fellucia made an attempt to break the record with their Formula X racer GT-M3, tuned to absolutely maximum power. Their reasoning was that if their ship was able to run at full power for the complete run, it might just about break the record, because although the X1 had much more power, its record run had been done with the ship only at full throttle for a limited amount of time. Their run was faultless, but they fell short on ultimate speed, with a recorded maximum of 4.3 million mph.
Spaceship test - 2298 Solar Racing Horizon Formula X Race Ship