Man about to launch himself in his homemade rocket to prove the Earth is flat

[Gutter Monkey]

An update! Of sorts! Some guy from a Flat Earth youtube channel checked the damage to Mad Mike's rocket and gave us a rundown of what Mike plans to do next:


For those of you who can't be bothered watching some guy rambling in a poorly shot video (or who don't want to give a flat earth guy the extra youtube hits) the gist is basically that the rocket sustained minor external damage and one of the crappy wheels that is intended to guide it along the framework when it launches got knocked out of alignment. Mad Mike Hughes left it in the town of Amboy for the week because he had to go back to work but he'll come back and get the rocket on Friday so he can take it home and fix it.

I'm betting that it'll probably stay at his house for quite some time, he doesn't seem to be in all that much of a rush any more.

Also there's not really any point in bringing the rocket back to Amboy because he still doesn't have permission from the Bureau of Land Management to launch it there.

[WildaBeast]

Originally Posted by Gutter Monkey

Yeah he said something in one of his videos about how this is a publicity stunt to raise awareness so he can later crowdfund the $1.8 million needed to build a rocket that can reach the Kármán line (or something like that, I can't be bothered going through his videos to double check the details).

Seems like it would be easier to just put that money towards a flight on Virgin Galactic. Right now that seems to have a better chance of getting off the ground than anything built by this guy.

[BoKu]

Originally Posted by crocoduck_hunter

At this point, it looks like he's just stalling until people lose interest.

I suspect he's creating activity to monetize his Youtube vids.

[Gutter Monkey]

Originally Posted by BoKu

I suspect he's creating activity to monetize his Youtube vids.

That's the crazy thing, he created his own youtube channel (or someone created it for him, I suspect) a short time before he was first supposed to launch the rocket but throughout all this he hasn't uploaded a single video to it.

He also seems to expect to make money selling commemorative t-shirts somehow but when I checked all his related websites there's absolutely no sign of an online store where you could order them.


He's remarkably inept at every single aspect of this entire scheme.

[Gutter Monkey]

Update: he's taken the rocket home so he can repair it and probably repaint it. (He seems more concerned about repainting it.) There's also a production company that wants to film him so he's going to delay the launch for at least a few weeks so they can do that. As for the launch itself he's hoping he can get it done before Super Bowl Sunday (in February!!!) but from the sounds of it he really really wants to do it on that day now.

[Dasla]

Originally Posted by Gutter Monkey

Update: he's taken the rocket home so he can repair it and probably repaint it. (He seems more concerned about repainting it.)

When I was a lab assistant at a high school, as an end of year project we would buy rocket kits for the students. The girls had to shape the nose cone and then construct the rocket. We would then fire the rockets off in the front oval. Many of the girls were more concerned with painting (and decorating) then with contrasting the rocket. So I can understand.

[BoKu]

Originally Posted by Dasla

When I was a lab assistant at a high school, as an end of year project we would buy rocket kits for the students. The girls had to shape the nose cone and then construct the rocket. We would then fire the rockets off in the front oval. Many of the girls were more concerned with painting (and decorating) then with contrasting the rocket. So I can understand.

Off-topic yarn:

At my previous job, the company sponsored a "rocket day." The various project teams made rockets from kits (good old Estes Alphas), and on that day we launched them. And got snacks and T-shirts.

However, there was no technical inspection, and there was no requirement that the kits be built to spec. So some teams got fancy and put extra forward fins and even little wings on them--making them unstable.

When I saw this, I tried to get the organizers to launch only rockets that were nominally compliant with the Alpha plans. But the event itself was so disorganized they couldn't get any kind of consensus among the staff, and all I got was a shrug and wet-blanket scowl.

Of course, when they launched one of the winged Alphas it immediately started into a decreasing-radius loop just above head height. After about a second it shed its wings, dropped into the crowd, and then popped its parachute, fortunately without hitting anyone. There was a silence, some nervous laughter, and the event went on, fortunately with no other serious issues.

[Gutter Monkey]

Originally Posted by BoKu

Off-topic yarn:

At my previous job, the company sponsored a "rocket day." The various project teams made rockets from kits (good old Estes Alphas), and on that day we launched them. And got snacks and T-shirts.

However, there was no technical inspection, and there was no requirement that the kits be built to spec. So some teams got fancy and put extra forward fins and even little wings on them--making them unstable.

When I saw this, I tried to get the organizers to launch only rockets that were nominally compliant with the Alpha plans. But the event itself was so disorganized they couldn't get any kind of consensus among the staff, and all I got was a shrug and wet-blanket scowl.

Of course, when they launched one of the winged Alphas it immediately started into a decreasing-radius loop just above head height. After about a second it shed its wings, dropped into the crowd, and then popped its parachute, fortunately without hitting anyone. There was a silence, some nervous laughter, and the event went on, fortunately with no other serious issues.

..... and it was still safer and more successful than any rocket launch that Mad Mike Hughes has attempted.

[Gutter Monkey]

Originally Posted by Gutter Monkey

Update: he's taken the rocket home so he can repair it

Footage of this has surfaced and it's much funnier and deeply incompetent than I could have ever imagined.

[Richard W]

They don't seem to understand basic mechanical forces and stresses very well for people who build rockets, do they?

[Gutter Monkey]

Mad Mike Hughes has posted some photos of his new rocket on his Facebook page and announced a new launch date of Saturday February 3rd. This time he's planning on flying straight up because that's the only way to ensure his flight doesn't go outside his friend's private property so he can avoid having to beg the Bureau of Land Management for a permit to land on their property.

[crocoduck_hunter]

I wonder how the crosswinds (which are caused by the rotation of a spherical planet) going to affect his ability to maintain position on the X and Z axes.

[GenYus234]

Also, he needs to avoid launching around midday so he doesn't slam into Apollo's chariot.

[Psihala]

I'm no rocket engineer, but the thing he's standing next to in the more recent picture doesn't look anywhere near powerful enough to launch a human being to any significant altitude.

~Psihala
(*Maybe a few more balloons?)

[crocoduck_hunter]

Originally Posted by GenYus234

Also, he needs to avoid launching around midday so he doesn't slam into Apollo's chariot.

Helios's chariot.

[Sylvanz]

tomato tomahto.

[GenYus234]

Originally Posted by crocoduck_hunter

Helios's chariot.

He doesn't trust the Greeks as it was the Greek philosopher Aristotle who started the whole "round" earth conspiracy.

[Gutter Monkey]

Originally Posted by Psihala

I'm no rocket engineer, but the thing he's standing next to in the more recent picture doesn't look anywhere near powerful enough to launch a human being to any significant altitude.

~Psihala
(*Maybe a few more balloons?)

Don't forget that his rockets are steam powered so they're even less powerful than regular rockets.

[DawnStorm]

Where's he going to sit? I suddenly have a Dr. Strangelove image in my head. The one where Slim Pickins is riding a bomb down to earth.

[GenYus234]

If you look behind his head, you can see a bit of clear canopy. Assuming he actually is in the launched rockets, I presume that's where he sits.

It doesn't look very big, but people take up less room that you'd think. Check out the size of the Cri Cri.