I think you are missing the point.
The educational value is in the engineering behind it and inspiring young people to go down that path.
the technology might not be new, the engineering practice required already known, but if it inspires a youngster to go and pursue a career in engineering then it has acheived its aims which if you look at the website seems to be what they want.
Just because it isn't ground breaking doesn't mean it is pointless.
Getting a land vehicle to hit 1000mph is a great engineering acheivement. And no it is not know whether it will succeed even if the numbers say it should.
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