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Flat Earther Plans To Launch Homemade Manned Rocket (apnews.com)
walterbyrd shares an Associated Press report: Self-taught rocket scientist "Mad" Mike Hughes is a 61-year-old limo driver who's spent the last few years building a steam-powered rocket out of salvage parts in his garage. His project has cost him $20,000, which includes Rust-Oleum paint to fancy it up and a motor home he bought on Craigslist that he converted into a ramp. His first test of the rocket will also be the launch date -- Saturday, when he straps into his homemade contraption and attempts to hurtle over the ghost town of Amboy, California. He will travel about a mile at a speed of roughly 500 mph. "I don't believe in science," said Hughes, whose main sponsor for the rocket is Research Flat Earth. "I know about aerodynamics and fluid dynamics and how things move through the air, about the certain size of rocket nozzles, and thrust. But that's not science, that's just a formula. There's no difference between science and science fiction."
UPDATE (11/25/17): His first launch atttempt had to be cancelled after his homemade launcher broke down in his driveway.
UPDATE (11/25/17): His first launch atttempt had to be cancelled after his homemade launcher broke down in his driveway.
OMG will someone stop him from this suicide attempt?
I can't.. I was going to quote some stuff and then comment on some other.. but, I can't..
Even Wile E Coyote wasn't that stupid.
It's gotten to the point where we can't tell the trolls from the idiots. It's just easier to assume they're all idiots.
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Can you not please try and speak for the rest of us? Itâ(TM)s a science article about home made rockets , this is a geek site. Itâ(TM)s exactly what the site is about and has always been about , and Iâ(TM)ve been here since the nineties
Excuse the Unicode crap in my posts. That's an apostrophe, and slashdot is busted.
"Self-taught rocket scientist..."
This is gonna be good.
...so does some science!
He believes the Earth is flat, and wants to build a rocket so that he can go up and take a look for himself.
So he has an hypothesis and is going to build and experiment to either prove or disprove it...
Maybe his definition of science is a bit different from mine, though...
Ah, someone gets it!
This guy is attempting one of the biggest trolls I've ever seen! The best part is his underlying message, which is pure science: "I don't believe you, and I'm going to check for myself." How much more Aristotelian can you get?
Put my fist through my alarm clock with its ding-dong death inside my ear. - The Blackjacks.
I wonder if the mechanics of landing are just formulas or "science fiction"
TFA says that he plans to open two parachutes, and presumably float to safety.
Yeah. Take a look at the chute on his first launch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Definitely needs some rethinking, and, yes, a second chute is a really good idea.
With that said, though: this is really cool!
another yootoob, this one with still pictures from a test a few months later. You definitely did not want to land inside THAT rocket! https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
For those old enough to remember, this is not very different from what Evil Knievel did when jumping the Snake River canyon.
Strike "what Evil Knievel did". Substitute "what Evil Knievel tried to do.
http://www.geoffreylandis.com
It's a geek site, and yet you're either trademarking a bunch of a's with little hats or they still haven't figured out Unicode 20 years in.
Do you have ESP?
I think Trump may have found his new director of NASA.
You are welcome on my lawn.