Eldorado Posted February 23, 2020 #1 Share Posted February 23, 2020 "A US daredevil pilot has been killed during an attempted launch of a homemade rocket in the Californian desert. ""Mad" Mike Hughes, 64, crash-landed his steam-powered rocket shortly after take-off near Barstow on Saturday. "A video on social media shows a rocket being fired into the sky before plummeting to the ground nearby." At the BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-51602655 And at Space dot com: https://www.space.com/daredevil-mad-mike-hughes-dies-in-homemade-rocket-launch.html 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post XenoFish Posted February 23, 2020 Popular Post #2 Share Posted February 23, 2020 I'm not sure how to feel about this. On one hand I feel sympathy for his families loss. On the other I want to face palm due to "Homemade Rocket". 11 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orphalesion Posted February 23, 2020 #3 Share Posted February 23, 2020 At least he didn't hurt anybody else. 7 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waspie_Dwarf Posted February 23, 2020 #4 Share Posted February 23, 2020 A warning here. A man has died. Whatever your feelings on flatearthers be kind or be quiet. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freetoroam Posted February 23, 2020 #5 Share Posted February 23, 2020 Quote Saturday's launch was reportedly filmed as part of Homemade Astronauts, a new TV series about amateur rocket makers to be aired on the US Science Channel. The project had to be carried out on a tight budget. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-51602655 It is worrying to think people are making homemade rockets, are they all getting the permission needed to send them up into our skies? Quote He claimed in November 2017 that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) had given him verbal permission more than a year ago to launch his rocket, pending approval from the Federal Aviation Administration. However, a BLM spokesman said its local field office had no record of speaking to Hughes at the time. According to the BLM, after seeing some news articles about the planned launch, a BLM representative reached out to Hughes with concerns. The rocket launch was originally scheduled for the weekend of November 25, 2017; Hughes then rescheduled for December 2, 2017, blaming ongoing difficulties in obtaining permissions.[9]Hughes moved his launch pad 4 miles (6.4 km) so that he could take off and land on private property; however, the BLM maintained he still needed to fill out permits. Hughes defiantly stated the dispute would not stop him flying: "I'm a daredevil. I'm not much for authority or rules."[12] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Hughes_(daredevil) Quote He set a Guinness World Record in 2002 for the longest limousine jump - over 31 metres (103 ft) in a Lincoln Town Car stretched limo. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-51602655 He was certainly a daredevil. Unfortunately things can go fatally wrong, even professionals die during extreme and dangerous sports. Quote In 2016 Hughes launched a failed fundraising attempt for a rocket that earned $310.[3][9]After professing his belief in a flat Earth later that year, Hughes gained support within the flat-Earth community. His post-flat-Earth fundraising campaign made its $7,875 goal. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Hughes_(daredevil) Wow. So was he actually a flat Earth believer? sure did help to say he was. Yes it is sad, but I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. Swaying more on the side that people should not be allowed to disregard the aviation laws. He died doing what he loved best and I have no doubt he knew the risks. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gromdor Posted February 23, 2020 #6 Share Posted February 23, 2020 I gotta say that rockets and the Flat Earther idealism is a dangerous mix. Figuring trajectories and the curvature of the Earth immediately pop into mind. 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon the frog Posted February 23, 2020 #7 Share Posted February 23, 2020 His rocket was cool but without any backup system it seems. Well sorry for the family but it's probably 2020 Darwin award ... 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piney Posted February 23, 2020 #8 Share Posted February 23, 2020 33 minutes ago, Gromdor said: I gotta say that rockets and the Flat Earther idealism is a dangerous mix. Figuring trajectories and the curvature of the Earth immediately pop into mind. All he had to do was get a pilots license and fly from the coast to a island, watching it slowly rise up on the horizon........Or he could of tried a stunt like the fellow who flew his balloon into the edge of space. Then the curvature really shows. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freetoroam Posted February 23, 2020 #9 Share Posted February 23, 2020 44 minutes ago, Gromdor said: I gotta say that rockets and the Flat Earther idealism is a dangerous mix. I have my doubts if he was a flat Earther, he was certainly a daredevil in need of funds and he came up with a pretty good idea to raise those funds, from my earlier post: Quote In 2016 Hughes launched a failed fundraising attempt for a rocket that earned $310.[2][9]After professing his belief in a flat Earth later that year, Hughes gained support within the flat-Earth community. His post-flat-Earth fundraising campaign made its $7,875 goal. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eldorado Posted February 23, 2020 Author #10 Share Posted February 23, 2020 There's a documentary film about him. "Rocketman: Mad Mike's Mission to Prove the Flat-Earth" "A crew of dreamers work through trials and tribulations attempting to launch Michael 'Mad Mike' Hughes in a homemade rocket on a mission to prove that the Earth is flat". https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8372368/ 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grim Reaper 6 Posted February 23, 2020 #11 Share Posted February 23, 2020 7 hours ago, Eldorado said: "A US daredevil pilot has been killed during an attempted launch of a homemade rocket in the Californian desert. ""Mad" Mike Hughes, 64, crash-landed his steam-powered rocket shortly after take-off near Barstow on Saturday. "A video on social media shows a rocket being fired into the sky before plummeting to the ground nearby." At the BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-51602655 And at Space dot com: https://www.space.com/daredevil-mad-mike-hughes-dies-in-homemade-rocket-launch.html Rest In Peace Mike Hugh's. This is really a tradgic situation, whether he truly believed the Earth was flat or not doesn't matter. My heart gos out to his family and the friends he left behind. No matter what people think of his ideas he had the intestinal fortitude and bravery to try and prove what he thought was the truth. Not many of us have what it takes to do the same. Peace 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saywhat Posted February 23, 2020 #12 Share Posted February 23, 2020 I don't understand. If his goal was to reach 5000 feet to see the curvature of the earth, why not just book a flight anywhere? Passenger planes fly much higher. A sad loss none the less. RIP. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seti42 Posted February 23, 2020 #13 Share Posted February 23, 2020 At least he went out with a bang doing what he loved. And as someone else pointed out, it's good he didn't take anyone else with him. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WanderingFool0 Posted February 23, 2020 #14 Share Posted February 23, 2020 I will probably get slagged for my opinion, as being callous, but I don't know if I really see this as much of a tragedy as others. Though, I do feel sorry for his families pain and suffering, I don't think they would feel any more or any less pain and suffering then if he died in a car wreck, heart attack, climbing a mountain etc, because death and the feeling of loss, causes pain and suffering for those who loved the individual regardless of how the death occurs. Personally, it doesn't seem to me like he was a flat earther, he just used that to get people to fund his project and more than likely, he was just a person who dreamed of going to space and knowing he would never get there due to the government and commercial gatekeepers to space and he decided to bypass them and do it DIY style. I would also say it is to bad he didn't get more funding and then, he probably could have created an expert team and built a better rocket with better safety and backup systems and maybe actually been able to achieve his dream and still live. Also, glad he didn't injure a lot of other people with his rocket. But, I don't know if we have the right to stop people like him for their own saftey, any more than we have a right to stop cliff and mountain climbers, skydivers, etc for their saftey. In the end I would say he died doing what he loved and believed in, so bless him and his family. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Wellington Posted February 23, 2020 #15 Share Posted February 23, 2020 Its only February 2020 yet I think we have already found a finalist for this years Darwin Award. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acidhead Posted February 23, 2020 #16 Share Posted February 23, 2020 It's possible the round-earthers snuffed him out before he exposed their lies!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obviousman Posted February 23, 2020 #17 Share Posted February 23, 2020 Is there any detail on the the actual vehicle construction? I'd like to see how practical - or not - the vehicle actually was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freetoroam Posted February 24, 2020 #18 Share Posted February 24, 2020 18 minutes ago, Obviousman said: Is there any detail on the the actual vehicle construction? I'd like to see how practical - or not - the vehicle actually was. I am no expert, but I do not believe it was practical at all, considering the outcome. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STAR LORD Posted February 24, 2020 #19 Share Posted February 24, 2020 12 hours ago, freetoroam said: I have my doubts if he was a flat Earther, he was certainly a daredevil in need of funds and he came up with a pretty good idea to raise those funds, from my earlier post: Well he's flat earth now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Wellington Posted February 24, 2020 #20 Share Posted February 24, 2020 12 hours ago, Obviousman said: Is there any detail on the the actual vehicle construction? I'd like to see how practical - or not - the vehicle actually was. Dont do it! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonman Posted February 24, 2020 #21 Share Posted February 24, 2020 And he couldn't just send a camera up....why exactly? You know, like middle schoolers do with digital cameras and balloons. I guess if you're a flat earther you aren't really thinking logically in the first place. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted February 24, 2020 #22 Share Posted February 24, 2020 38 minutes ago, moonman said: And he couldn't just send a camera up....why exactly? You know, like middle schoolers do with digital cameras and balloons. I guess if you're a flat earther you aren't really thinking logically in the first place. Very true. I still don't believe there are any flat Earth believers. I think they proclaim it for various reasons. Money Boredom Mostly I think they like to debate (argue) and the thought of the Earth being flat is the toughest subject to win so it makes it more fun for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aztek Posted February 24, 2020 #23 Share Posted February 24, 2020 yep it does sound fishy, if all he needed is 5k feet, a plane would do, even small cessna, or a piper can fly that high. doesn't look like it really was about FE, more like he just wanted to take a flight in his own rocket, interestingly enough. the property where he took off\crashed is owned by either discovery or science channel. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kismit Posted February 24, 2020 #24 Share Posted February 24, 2020 There is a documentary about this chap, it’s called Rocketman. I suspect that they were filming part two when the accident happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted February 24, 2020 #25 Share Posted February 24, 2020 3 hours ago, aztek said: yep it does sound fishy, if all he needed is 5k feet, a plane would do, even small cessna, or a piper can fly that high. doesn't look like it really was about FE, more like he just wanted to take a flight in his own rocket, interestingly enough. the property where he took off\crashed is owned by either discovery or science channel. Yeah. He was a thrill seeker and liked doing risky stuff. It's cool that he built his own rocket, that shows allot of intelligence even though he overlooked some items. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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