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According to Southern California Public Radio,
"Mad" Mike Hughes, limousine driver and self-proclaimed flat-Earther, announced that he had to delay his plan to launch himself 1,800 feet high in a rocket of his own making. The launch, which he has billed as a crucial first step toward ultimately photographing our disc-world from space, had been scheduled for Saturday — before the Bureau of Land Management got wind of the plan and barred him from using public land in Amboy, Calif.
Also, the rocket launcher he had built out of a used motor home "broke down in the driveway" on Wednesday, according to Hughes. He said in a YouTube announcement that they'd eventually gotten the launcher fixed — but the small matter of federal permission proved a more serious stumbling block (for now).
Related: Flat Earther Plans Manned Steam-Powered Rocket Launch.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 28 2017, @10:33AM (2 children)
The upsides are that the molecule is not very dangerous, is cheap, and has a low molecular mass. The downside is that the molecule has energy-sapping degrees of freedom that aren't found in diatomic molecules and in monoatomic gas. Compare with carbon dioxide, which has double the molecular mass and is thus a worse exhaust choice.
Getting it hot is easy. Simply start from the components and you'll get the needed energy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_IV_Heavy [wikipedia.org]
For serious power, heat the steam by passing it through a nuclear reactor. Of course, plain unburned hydrogen would be more powerful, especially if you get it hot enough to be monoatomic. Helium is good too. To really burn money, use helium-3 for your exhaust.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 28 2017, @11:39AM (1 child)
Propaganda. I have it from reliable sources that steam is full of dihydrogen monoxide! ;-)
(Score: 1) by anubi on Tuesday November 28 2017, @11:43AM
Not only that, they are also polluting the atmosphere with oxidane and hydroxic acid fumes!
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]