...well... believe it or not... '
Mad Mike Hughes' finally did it... he went up in his home made Rocket to prove that the Earth is flat over the weekend... yup!... he finally had the balls to do it at last... and does he now believe that the Earth is still flat?... he's not saying... he is now telling us that seeing whether the Earth is flat or not was
NOT the objective for this mission... the next one is!... lol!... (I guess that he must have had his eyes shut and was crying and calling out for his mommy or something?)... lol!... he didn't actually reach 1/30th of the height of a commercial airline plane apparently... as someone said on YouTube... why not just pay $300 for a flight in a plane to find out whether the Earth is flat or not?... (makes sense to me lol!)...
...he is saying that his next rocket will be lifted into the atmosphere by a giant balloon... or as he himself says...
"He wants to build a "Rockoon" — a rocket that is carried into the atmosphere by a gas-filled balloon, then separated from the balloon and lit. This rocket would take Mr Hughes about 110km up"... he now maintains that he believes that the Earth is
"shaped like a Frisbee"... yup!... okay Mike... whatever you say sunshine... lol!... some of the comments below the videos on YouTube are quite hilarious too... from this website below... there are two videos... one of the launch and the other of the 'recovery' after he lands... cheers.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-...-hughes-launches-into-californian-sky/9587410
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Flat Earth believer 'Mad' Mike Hughes launches himself into California's sky, quickly returns
Updated Mon at 8:00pm
Photo: Mr Hughes said he injured his back after Saturday's launch, but he was otherwise fine. (The Daily Press via AP)
He finally went up — just like the self-taught rocket scientist always pledged he would.
Even though he quickly came back down, it was mission accomplished for a man more daredevil than engineer.
"Mad" Mike Hughes,
the "rocket man" who believes the Earth is flat, propelled himself almost 600 metres into the air on Saturday (local time), before a hard landing in the Mojave Desert.
He told the Associated Press that outside of an aching back, he was fine and was "relieved".
"I'm tired of people saying I chickened out and didn't build a rocket. I'm tired of that stuff. I manned up and did it," he said, after being checked by paramedics.
The launch in the desert town of Amboy, California — about 320 kilometres east of Los Angeles — was
originally scheduled in November.
It was scrapped several times due to mechanical problems and logistical issues with the Bureau of Land Management.
The 61-year-old limousine driver has been working on overhauling the rocket in his garage for months.
It looked like Saturday's attempt would also be cancelled, given that the wind was blowing and his rocket was losing steam.
"I told Mike we could try to keep charging it up and get it hotter," said Waldo Stakes, who's been helping Mr Hughes with his endeavour.
"He said 'no'."
On Saturday afternoon and without a countdown, Mr Hughes' rocket soared into the sky and reached a speed that Mr Stakes estimated to be around 563kph before Mr Hughes pulled his parachute.
Mr Hughes was dropping too fast, though, and had to deploy a second parachute.
He landed with a thud and the rocket's nose broke in two places, like it was designed to do.
"This thing wants to kill you 10 different ways," said Mr Hughes, who had an altimeter in his cockpit to measure his altitude.
"This thing will kill you in a heartbeat.
"Am I glad I did it? Yeah. I guess. I'll feel it in the morning.
"I won't be able to get out of bed. At least I can go home and have dinner and see my cats tonight."
Photo: Mr Hughes was carried away on a stretcher after his home-made rocket returned to ground near Amboy, California. (AP: Matt Hartman)
The rocket landed about 450 metres from the launch ramp, Mr Stakes said.
He got permission to launch on land owned by Albert Okura, who bought Amboy in 2005. Mr Okura attended the launch and said it lasted about three to four minutes.
"Mike branded us as 'Rocket Town'," Mr Okura said.
"It was amazing."
This has been quite an undertaking for Mr Hughes, who lives in California's Apple Valley, and has seen a flurry of reaction to his plans, with detractors labelling him a "crackpot" for planning the launch in a homemade contraption, and for his belief that the Earth is flat.
"I hope he doesn't blow something up," retired NASA astronaut Jerry Linenger said, as Mr Hughes' plans captured widespread attention.
Mr Linenger orbited the globe more than 2,000 times in four months in 1997.
"Rocketry, as our private space companies found out, isn't as easy as it looks," he said.
Proving shape of Earth not mission's purpose
Mr Hughes often sparred with his critics on social media leading up to the launch.
He has always maintained his mission isn't to prove the Earth is flat.
"Do I believe the Earth is shaped like a Frisbee? I believe it is," he said.
"Do I know for sure? No. That's why I want to go up in space."
Photo: Mr Hughes had to repair a steam leak before launching his home-made, steam-powered rocket. (The Daily Press via AP)
That is his project for down the road.
He wants to build a "Rockoon" — a rocket that is carried into the atmosphere by a gas-filled balloon, then separated from the balloon and lit. This rocket would take Mr Hughes about 110km up.
He has a documentary crew following him around to record his ambition, with a planned release in August.
This was the second time he's constructed and launched a rocket.
He said he launched on a private property in Winkelman, Arizona in 2014 and travelled about 420 metres. He collapsed after the landing and needed three days to recover.
But there wasn't any footage of him climbing into the craft, leading some to question whether he even took off.
Photo: Mike Hughes' mission has garnered a lot of attention online. (AP: Mad Mike Hughes)
This launch was going to be shown online.
"My story really is incredible," Mr Hughes said.
"It's got a bunch of story lines — the garage-built thing. I'm an older guy. It's out in the middle of nowhere, plus the flat Earth.
"The problem is it brings out all the nuts also, people questioning everything. It's the downside of all this."
His future plans are simple: fill out the paperwork to run for governor.
"This is no joke," Hughes said.
"I want to do it."