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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: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 24 2020, @09:43AM (6 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 24 2020, @09:43AM (#961763)

    The Wright Brothers were dealing with an engineering problem within the scope of known science.

    Mike Hughes was trying to disprove settled science.

    If he was the first person trying to build a rocket, then his death would have had meaning, but that problem was settled almost a century ago as well.

    He was just a guy with a particularly dangerous hobby who managed to get himself killed doing it.

    Starting Score:    0  points
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  • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Monday February 24 2020, @01:22PM (5 children)

    by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Monday February 24 2020, @01:22PM (#961810) Homepage
    Nope. There was a sizeable chunk of the scientific community who were completely convinced that heavier than air flight was impossible. It was proved science to them.
    --
    Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
    • (Score: 3, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 24 2020, @02:14PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 24 2020, @02:14PM (#961825)

      because they all knew that birds were lighter than air...?

    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Monday February 24 2020, @03:05PM (3 children)

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Monday February 24 2020, @03:05PM (#961842) Journal

      There was a sizeable chunk of the scientific community who were completely convinced that heavier than air flight was impossible.

      What again does that have to do with the present story? Did someone die trying to prove that heavier than air flight was impossible?

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 24 2020, @04:00PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 24 2020, @04:00PM (#961870)

        after aircraft had been around for a long time

        • (Score: 1) by khallow on Monday February 24 2020, @04:03PM

          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Monday February 24 2020, @04:03PM (#961871) Journal
          Indeed. What's going to make such an effort potentially worth our attention span?
      • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Monday February 24 2020, @05:19PM

        by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Monday February 24 2020, @05:19PM (#961894) Homepage
        It was a demonstration that "settled science" was not a useful concept in the post I was responding to.

        Read for comprehension next time, please.
        --
        Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves