posted 11-21-2017 02:04 PM               

Seeking to prove that a conspiracy of astronauts fabricated the shape of the Earth, a California man intends to launch himself 1,800 feet high on Saturday in a rocket he built from scrap metal.

Assuming the 500-mph, mile-long flight through the Mojave Desert does not kill him, Mike Hughes told the Associated Press, his journey into the atmosflat will mark the first phase of his ambitious flat-Earth space program.

posted 11-21-2017 05:46 PM               

"He was an average stunt guy."

posted 11-25-2017 10:20 AM               

Hughes claimed the Bureau of Land Management said he couldn't launch his rocket as planned Saturday in Amboy. He claimed the federal agency had given him verbal permission more than a year ago, pending approval from the Federal Aviation Administration.

A BLM spokeswoman said its local field office had no record of speaking with Hughes and that he had not applied for the necessary special recreation permit to hold an event on public land...

The BLM's denial, along with some technical difficulties — a motor in his modified motor home quit working for a day — threw a wrench into his plans, according to Hughes.

"I don't see [the launch] happening until about Tuesday, honestly," he said. "It takes three days to set up... You know, it's not easy because it's not supposed to be easy."

posted 11-25-2017 12:22 PM               

Even if he succeeds, it won't matter what he sees or experiences, he'll just declare it 'proves' the world is flat. And the flat earthers will believe it.

posted 11-28-2017 05:11 PM               

"When I am in space, it is a sphere. It is a curve. The Earth is not flat," said retired NASA astronaut and doctor Jerry Linenger, who orbited the globe more than 2000 times during four months in 1997. "I circled it every 90 minutes and it is a real thing."

As for the amateur rocket launch?

"Good luck, I hope he doesn't blow something up," Linenger said. "Rocketry, as our private space companies found out, isn't as easy as it looks."

posted 03-25-2018 01:09 PM               

Sometime after 3 p.m. PDT, and without a countdown, Hughes' rocket soared into the sky.

Hughes reached a speed that [helper Waldo] Stakes estimated to be around 350 mph before pulling his parachute. Hughes was dropping too fast, though, and he had to deploy a second one. 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 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."

posted 02-22-2020 07:15 PM               

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.

The reporter, Justin Chapman, adds, "Very likely did not survive." He tells TMZ ... Mike is confirmed to be dead there on the ground as well.

In the video, you see a parachute fly out of the rocket, but it doesn't appear anyone is using it. The presumption, for now, is that Mike might've stayed in the rocket as it ascended hundreds of feet into the air.

...it may have been getting filmed for a new TV show Mike is a part of in partnership with the Discovery Channel. The show's called "Homemade Astronauts," and it's set to launch sometime in 2020.

posted 04-17-2020 04:39 PM               

Up for auction is historical crashed wreckage (only) of a home built rocket that was flown and manned, twice (2 times), by Mad Mike Hughes in Amboy and Barstow in California. No manned steam rocket has ever flown as high as this rocket, and holds the world record. There is still a "For Sale" sign on one of the rocket fins, that was directed by Mad Mike Hughes, to sell the rocket, as soon as the flight was completed.

posted 01-10-2022 08:09 AM               

I found it very disturbing — more in common with circus daredevil acts, rather than competent attempts to create affordable spaceflight technology.