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: 3, Funny) by takyon on Tuesday November 28 2017, @12:51PM (7 children)
With a balloon you are not moving fast in the horizontal so any curvature of the Earth perceived is actually an illusion caused by the underlying terrain.
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(Score: 2) by JNCF on Tuesday November 28 2017, @02:43PM (6 children)
I know a flat-earther* IRL that says he would not be convinced of the ball-earth theory if he were to ride a hot air balloon to such a height that he could see the curve of the earth with his own eyes, as his eyes have fisheye lenses. The same problem would apply to a rocket, of course. The only convincing evidence for him would be personally travelling over the diameter of Antarctica.
*Technically he's agnostic on the shape of our rock now, but that took some arguing.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday November 28 2017, @02:57PM
Brave scientists say that the universe is flat. Of course the Earth is flat!
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(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 28 2017, @03:55PM (3 children)
why would you even argue with someone older than 12 about the shape of the Earth?
it's so much easier to just make new friends... even if you're a physicist.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Tuesday November 28 2017, @04:55PM (2 children)
Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Why would you waste any time at all having a conversation with someone this dumb?
(Score: 2) by JNCF on Tuesday November 28 2017, @08:32PM (1 child)
Without going into details, it's not somebody that I recreationally hang out with. But in general terms I can appreciate somebody's company without respecting their cognitive abilities in every facet of life; I find this character's anti-semitism much more off putting than his flat-eartherism. I've known people with some ridiculous worldviews that I still enjoyed discussing art, literature, programming, social dynamics, and other such trivia with.
I don't try to engage in discussions about how flat the earth is, but if the topic is repeatedly brought up I'll do my best to represent Team Ball.
(Score: 2) by Osamabobama on Tuesday November 28 2017, @08:52PM
Beam Ball
Beak Ball
Beck Ball
Back Ball
Back Bell
Tack Bell
Taco Bell
So the Earth started out flat, then was folded over to make a taco shape. Message received.
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 28 2017, @05:45PM
What I want to see are the flat earthers proposing scientific missions beyond the ice wall.
I'm very interested in what lies beyond.
I'm not holding my breath of course. As compelling as flat earth is as a conspiracy theory, it needs to show some progress using available technology to investigate this cosmos that is always accelerating upwards at 1g. Why can't we design a mission for some brave soul to fly their own private airplane over the ice wall and take a look down?
(That's a rhetorical question.)