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posted by martyb on Monday February 24 2020, @04:19AM   Printer-friendly
from the good-afternoon,-good-evening,-and-good-night dept.

Multiple Soylentils have written in to let us know about the death of Mike Hughes:

"Mad" Mike Hughes Dies in Rocket Crash

Michael 'Mad Mike' Hughes, staunch flat Earth conspiracy theorist, launched himself into the skies above Barstow in San Bernardino county Saturday, February 22nd.

He was attempting to reach an altitude of ~5000 feet (1,500 meters). Unfortunately his parachute did not open during descent causing him to plummet to his death.

This wasn't Hughes' first rodeo, as the self-taught engineer had made two other attempts, the latest of which was supposed to launch in August 2019. That attempt was grounded by bad weather. Before that, the rocketeer had a successful (albeit bumpy) launch in March 2018, when his homemade rocket reached 1,875 feet (572 m) in altitude over Amboy, California. During that launch, Hughes had to deploy two parachutes to save himself from smashing into the desert. Even so he plummeted back to Earth at 350 mph (563 km/h). He got out of that one with just a sore back, he said at the time.

This launch was only a stepping stone to the eventual goal to proving the Earth was flat.

Would flat-Earth-believer Hughes have been able to see our planet's sphere at 5,000 feet (1,524 m)? Nope. And he knew that, saying he would need to soar past the so-called Kármán line — where the sky ends and space begins, or roughly 62 miles (100 kilometers) above Earth — to see the curvature with his own eyes.

Two other amateur rocket teams are also attempting to reach the 100 KM point.

DAREDEVIL 'MAD' MIKE HUGHES DEAD AT 64 ... Fatal Rocket Crash Landing

TMZ, though probably at many other venues shortly., I, for one, offer prayers for Mad Mike, and may Minos, Aeacus, and Rhadamanthys judge him with mercy.

'Mad' Mike Hughes is believed to possibly be dead after launching himself in the air with a self-made rocket that crash-landed -- and it was captured on camera.

The well-known daredevil and amateur rocket-engineer was doing a rocket launch Saturday in what appears to be near Barstow, CA -- where a reporter says Mike propelled himself into the air with a "self-made steam-powered rocket" and then crash-landed into the ground.

Not confirmed? Does not matter whether the earth be flat, or just a very large sphere, when you slam into it at speed.

Much more tragic, Mike seemed pretty stoked for the launch this weekend. He posted a video describing his rocket, where it would go down and what he was aiming to achieve. BTW, he was a big flat-earth believer -- and a doc was even made about him trying to prove it.

We've reached out to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Dept. for comment ... so far, no word back. However, we were told by a dispatcher at the Victor Valley Sheriff's Station that a call for service had been placed Saturday out of Barstow -- the nature of which is unclear.

Flat Earther 'Mad' Mike Hughes died when his homemade rocket crashed

Daredevil "Mad" Mike Hughes died Saturday when a homemade rocket he was attached to launched but quickly dove to earth in the California desert.

The stunt was apparently part of a forthcoming television show, "Homemade Astronauts," that was scheduled to debut later this year on Discovery Inc.'s Science Channel. Discovery confirmed the 64-year-old's death in a statement.

"It was always his dream to do this launch, and Science Channel was there to chronicle his journey," the company said.

STORY: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/daredevil-mad-mike-hughes-dies-in-homemade-rocket-launch/ar-BB10hz2b

Also at
LA Times, Space, NBC News, and CNN

Previous Coverage:
Flat Earther Manages to Travel One Third of a Mile Into the Sky Using a Steam-Powered Rocket (Takyon)
Federal Government Denies Permission for Flat Earth Researcher's Rocket Launch (Anonymous Coward)
Flat Earther Plans Manned Steam-Powered Rocket Launch (MichaelDavidCrawford)


Original Submission #1Original Submission #2Original Submission #3

 
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  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 24 2020, @09:09AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 24 2020, @09:09AM (#961755)

    I'd add that this is also the exact problem with entrepreneurship.

    You have to be 'insane' to get into entrepreneurship when you don't come from significant wealth. Yet, lo and behold, the vast majority of entrepreneurs don't come from significant wealth. Old money generally produces idiots complacent to sit on gramp's achievements. I remember my mother in law's comments when I was first starting my own business. I'd made a little bit of cash - around $3000, but it was quite a lot for a boy from a poor background to have untied to any other obligation (like rent). "You should take that out [of your business account], and go buy yourself something nice while you can."

    It wasn't meant in any way whatsoever to be mean spirited. She thought it was wise advice and just didn't have the mindset or ambition to see bigger. And if I ran my life enough I probably would have ended up losing it all a good chunk of the time. Doesn't matter, because I would restart from scratch and go again. What's the point of life otherwise? It's precisely this worldview that leads me to have 0 empathy for this man's views, but every desire in the world to defend his decision to try to prove -or at least test- those views. Believe what makes sense to you. Take into consideration what other people say, but in the end it doesn't matter if every person you talk to thinks you're wrong. Reality isn't built by consensus. So, what you ultimately believe or choose to do is a decision that one not only should, but must, make for themselves.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 25 2020, @06:11AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 25 2020, @06:11AM (#962253)

    Almost modded you troll but the end is just... true. One day you might look back and realize all the people around you are scoundrels and backstabbers. You'll regret you didn't listen to yourself sooner. But.... this guy.... fuck.