Flat Earth advocate dies after homemade rocket crashes

redleghunter · Feb 23, 2020

The saga of "Mad" Mike Hughes and his homebuilt rocket has come to a tragic end. The Flat Earth advocate died on February 22nd at the age of 64 when the chute for his steam-powered rocket detached shortly after launch, leading to a high-velocity crash in the desert near Barstow, California. The launch was being filmed for a Science Channel series, Homemade Astronauts, that aims to document the adventures of amateur rocket makers.

Hughes' goal had been to verify his belief in a disc-shaped Earth by flying to space, with successive launches taking him higher and higher in altitude. His first rocket launch in 2014 took him to 1,374ft, but successive launches didn't travel much higher. A 2018 flight peaked at 1,875 feet.

More at the link: Flat Earth advocate dies after homemade rocket crashes

GaveMeJoy · Feb 23, 2020

redleghunter said:
The saga of "Mad" Mike Hughes and his homebuilt rocket has come to a tragic end. The Flat Earth advocate died on February 22nd at the age of 64 when the chute for his steam-powered rocket detached shortly after launch, leading to a high-velocity crash in the desert near Barstow, California. The launch was being filmed for a Science Channel series, Homemade Astronauts, that aims to document the adventures of amateur rocket makers.

Hughes' goal had been to verify his belief in a disc-shaped Earth by flying to space, with successive launches taking him higher and higher in altitude. His first rocket launch in 2014 took him to 1,374ft, but successive launches didn't travel much higher. A 2018 flight peaked at 1,875 feet.

More at the link: Flat Earth advocate dies after homemade rocket crashes

How do we know this isn’t a fake story by the round earth illuminati to cover up his murder tho?

prodromos · Feb 24, 2020

redleghunter said:
The saga of "Mad" Mike Hughes and his homebuilt rocket has come to a tragic end. The Flat Earth advocate died on February 22nd at the age of 64 when the chute for his steam-powered rocket detached shortly after launch, leading to a high-velocity crash in the desert near Barstow, California. The launch was being filmed for a Science Channel series, Homemade Astronauts, that aims to document the adventures of amateur rocket makers.

Hughes' goal had been to verify his belief in a disc-shaped Earth by flying to space, with successive launches taking him higher and higher in altitude. His first rocket launch in 2014 took him to 1,374ft, but successive launches didn't travel much higher. A 2018 flight peaked at 1,875 feet.

More at the link: Flat Earth advocate dies after homemade rocket crashes

At least he died pursuing his dream.

miamited · Feb 24, 2020

Hi RLH,

I saw the Netflix doc about him several months ago. Strange fellow. Seems he was regularly having problems with his rocket designs.

God bless,
In Christ, ted

Sabertooth · Feb 24, 2020

Engadget said:
Hughes' goal had been to verify his belief in a disc-shaped Earth by flying to space, with successive launches taking him higher and higher in altitude. His first rocket launch in 2014 took him to 1,374ft, but successive launches didn't travel much higher. A 2018 flight peaked at 1,875 feet.

An airline ticket would have been cheaper and brought him up to 35,000 feet (about seven miles)... :doh:

Strathos · Feb 24, 2020

Sabertooth said:
An airline ticket would have been cheaper and brought him to 35,000 feet (about seven miles)...

According to these kinds of people all of the airlines are part of the conspiracy and their windows use fisheye lenses to create the illusion of a curve.

prodromos · Feb 24, 2020

Sabertooth said:
An airline ticket would have been cheaper and brought him up to 35,000 feet (about seven miles)...

A balloon would have got him to 98,000 feet without all the risks and engineering problems his rocket produced.

coffee4u · Feb 24, 2020

poor guy, dying over such a silly and dangerous thing.

Strathos said:
According to these kinds of people all of the airlines are part of the conspiracy and their windows use fisheye lenses to create the illusion of a curve.

A regular airline ticket wouldn't have helped because it doesn't fly high enough to observe the curvature of the earth, it has to be a Concord.
It's known that aeroplane windows do distort the light coming in and add a slight curvature. Not that it's part of any conspiracy because it's not hidden.
Can You See The Curvature Of The Earth From A Plane?

Sabertooth · Feb 24, 2020

prodromos said:
A balloon would have got him to 98,000 feet without all the risks and engineering problems his rocket produced.

The Armstrong Limit (59K-62K feet) would have taken him out, then.

prodromos · Feb 24, 2020

Although that will still only elevate you to 0.5% of the earth's radius, so still hard to see the curvature from that height.

prodromos · Feb 24, 2020

Sabertooth said:
The Armstrong Limit (59K-62K feet) would have taken him out, then.

He would have had to wear a space suit.

Sabertooth · Feb 24, 2020

prodromos said:
He would have had to wear a space suit.

[GLWT]

(Wouldn't its visor have the same flaw as the airplane windows...? :scratch:

)

SkyWriting · Feb 24, 2020

redleghunter said:
The saga of "Mad" Mike Hughes and his homebuilt rocket has come to a tragic end. The Flat Earth advocate died on February 22nd at the age of 64 when the chute for his steam-powered rocket detached shortly after launch, leading to a high-velocity crash in the desert near Barstow, California. The launch was being filmed for a Science Channel series, Homemade Astronauts, that aims to document the adventures of amateur rocket makers.

Hughes' goal had been to verify his belief in a disc-shaped Earth by flying to space, with successive launches taking him higher and higher in altitude. His first rocket launch in 2014 took him to 1,374ft, but successive launches didn't travel much higher. A 2018 flight peaked at 1,875 feet.

More at the link: Flat Earth advocate dies after homemade rocket crashes

Hot Air balloons are funner.

redleghunter · Feb 24, 2020

coffee4u said:
poor guy, dying over such a silly and dangerous thing.

A regular airline ticket wouldn't have helped because it doesn't fly high enough to observe the curvature of the earth, it has to be a Concord.
It's known that aeroplane windows do distort the light coming in and add a slight curvature. Not that it's part of any conspiracy because it's not hidden.
Can You See The Curvature Of The Earth From A Plane?

Well I think there was general interest in his steam rocket designs. A lot of his fans in that hobby rocket community did not share his flat earth deal, but following his designs.

redleghunter · Feb 24, 2020

prodromos said:
Although that will still only elevate you to 0.5% of the earth's radius, so still hard to see the curvature from that height.

Right and he was never going to get that close without leaving the Earth's atmosphere. I think that was his eventual goal.

redleghunter · Feb 24, 2020

SkyWriting said:
Hot Air balloons are funner.

He was a rocket 'scientist' apparently, so can see why he would pursue that course.

redleghunter · Feb 24, 2020

miamited said:
Hi RLH,

I saw the Netflix doc about him several months ago. Strange fellow. Seems he was regularly having problems with his rocket designs.

God bless,
In Christ, ted

Hi Ted, I did not see the documentary. Sounds interesting. I gather he garnered some interest due to the steam engine design. As you said he had some difficulties but some success.

Petros2015 · Feb 24, 2020

redleghunter said:
when the chute for his steam-powered rocket

You had me at "steam powered rocket"

redleghunter · Feb 24, 2020

Petros2015 said:
You had me at "steam powered rocket"

Pretty interesting. Maybe he was responsible for all those "contrail sightings" some were reporting ^_^

SeventyOne · Feb 24, 2020

The man was not a flat-earther. That's actually just propaganda.

According to those who chatted with him at the Denver Flat Earth Conference knows he admitted openly he wasn't a flat-earther, but was a daredevil and was there to gather funding for the rocket that just crashed. All these lies about him being a flat-earther just aren't true.

But he was a self-promoter. I'm sure he didn't mind the publicity and funding that came in being associated with the flat earth truth.

Flat Earth advocate dies after homemade rocket crashes

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