Flat-Earther's Steam-Powered Rocket Lofts Him 1,875 Feet Up Into Mojave Desert (latimes.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Los Angeles Times: "Mad" Mike Hughes, the rocket man who believes the Earth is flat, propelled himself about 1,875 feet into the air Saturday before a hard landing in the Mojave Desert. He told the Associated Press that outside of an aching back he's fine after the launch near Amboy, Calif. The launch in the sparsely populated desert town about 150 miles east of Los Angeles -- was originally scheduled in November. It was scrubbed several times due to logistical issues with the Bureau of Land Management and mechanical problems that kept popping up. The 61-year-old limo driver converted a mobile home into a ramp and modified it to launch from a vertical angle so he wouldn't fall back to the ground on public land. For months he's been working on overhauling his rocket in his garage. It looked like Saturday might be another in a string of cancellations, given that the wind was blowing and his rocket was losing steam. Ideally, they wanted it at 350 psi for maximum thrust, but it was dropping to 340. Sometime after 3 p.m. PDT, and without a countdown, Hughes' rocket soared into the sky. Hughes reached a speed that Stakes estimated to be around 350 mph before pulling his parachute. Hughes was dropping too fast, though, and he had to deploy a second one. He landed with a thud and the rocket's nose broke in two places like it was designed to do.

Comments

And then a hero comes along

[PopeRatzo]

The 61-year-old limo driver converted a mobile home into a ramp and modified it to launch from a vertical angle so he wouldn't fall back to the ground on public land. For months he's been working on overhauling his rocket in his garage.

This dude is a fucking inspiration.

"Mad" Mike Hughes, I salute you.

Re:And then a hero comes along

[PopeRatzo]

Did he prove that the earth is flat?

That doesn't matter. None of the flat earth stuff matters. Columbus thought he was sailing to India.

"Mad" Mike Hughes embodies the real American spirit. He had a dream and he put his life on the line for it and shot himself into the air on a homemade goddamn rocket. It's the unifying concept of Westward, Ho! except he was already in California and couldn't go West any more, so he turned a goddamn mobile home into a goddamn launch pad.

Jesus, if you guys can't see how magnificent that is, your souls have been hollowed out.

Re:And then a hero comes along

[saloomy]

I don't understand, 1900ft? There are buildings taller than that! Why the expense of a rocket? Why not go get on a hot air ballon? The rides are like $40....

Re:And then a hero comes along

[robbak]

He didn't believe in science like, for instance, classical mechanics, so was unable to calculate that he would only reach 600 meters. He believed his rocket would take him to space.

I fully expect that he will claim that he has proven that the earth is flat, because he would not have been able to see earth's curvature from only 600 meters, unless he wanted to.

Re: And then a hero comes along

[Balial]

But proving the earth was flat wasn't his original intention at all. He was trying to build this rocket for ages, then realized he could get the funding from flat earthers because they are dumb, so drummed up a bunch of interest and cash saying he could prove the earth was flat.

So yeah, some guy grifting stupid people for his own silly endeavors. The american dream.

Re:And then a hero comes along

[nospam007]

"I don't understand, 1900ft? There are buildings taller than that! Why the expense of a rocket? Why not go get on a hot air ballon? The rides are like $40...."

What's so difficult to understand?

It's not rocket science, the guy is nuts.

Re: And then a hero comes along

[haruchai]

Not to worry, Trump will reward Hughes by appointing him head of NASA