Posted on 02/23/2020 7:13:17 AM PST by deport
A daredevil has died after crashing in a homemade rocket he had launched himself while filming a program.
"Mad" Mike Hughes, 64, died on Saturday near Barstow, California, after a rocket that he had built and crashed into the ground on private property at approximately 1:52 p.m. on Saturday near Highway 247, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.
"In a cosmic quest to explore the final frontier on a shoe-string budget, Mike Hughes and Waldo Stakes have built a steam powered rocket that will launch "Mad Mike" 5,000 feet into the air," said an article on the Science Channel, owned by the Discovery Channel, that has since been updated to confirm Hughes' death. "As ground-breaking and awe-inspiring as this event will be, it is only the first step towards an even more ambitious goal in space exploration."
(Excerpt) Read more at abc11.com ...
He would have done a great Reality Show. Daredevil, attention Hog, but with the mind of an engineer.
I have known two people like this. They are often very suggestible, and can be pushed one way or another depending on the approval or friendship they gain.
In the back of my mind, I’m thinking this is the type of guy who would be very useful to gangs or radical groups as a bomb maker. Someone with innate intelligence, but a heavy touch of insecurity. Just give him a uniform, title, a budget and a few nubile
‘interns’. He’ll keep cranking out those bombs like hot loaves of white bread.
Unfortunately it became a ground breaking event when the parachute ripped off.
Which leads inevitably to the question: Where in the world is Karman's Winnebago?
And 5,000 feet isn’t space. There are better ways to get to that altitude.
“There are better ways to get to that altitude.”
like maybe renting a piloted aircraft to ride in for a couple of hours?
Gives me an idea
for a “Time Moosheen!”
Pick a fight with Isaac Newton...
I have too much to do now and you go make me write a note to go and build one of those light fixtures.
As I read the event this was another attempt at getting some
type vehicle to reach approx 62 miles above the earth so that
he could see the curvature. He just didn’t make it to the final
vehicle that he needed.
Guy was 64. He's probably not eligible for a Darwin Award, cause that's for people who would have been likely to reproduce.
Commercial flights cruise at around 35,000 feet. 5,000 feet isn't even above what an ultralight can do.
Minor suspicion: I've always thought the "flat earth" thing was an organized disinformation campaign. For a few bucks, some governmental think tank puts out this stuff, so they can go, "Look everyone on the internet is a loon. You need to stick to trusted newspeople, like Anderson Cooper.and Don Lemon." There may be a few people that actually believe it, but there are way too many posts with professional graphics out there.
Flat Earth moron removes himself from the gene pool. We need more just like him. /s
Just remember, it’s not speed that kills. It’s the sudden deceleration.
That dang Van Allen belt pushed him right back down...
He may have failed to prove that the earth is flat, but he DID figure out how applesauce is made.
He certainly proved the Law of Gravity.
”The last thing you want in exploring space is a shoe string budget.“
- For a few hundred bucks, he could have bought himself a flight to 50,000 feet and received a free beverage and bag of pretzels while he enjoyed the view.
Hold on here, I think somebody forgot to hook the parachute up.
Burt Rutan won the X-Prize with his space program funded by $25 million of Paul Allen's money. Definitely NOT chump change, but dirt cheap as far as anything aerospace goes.
(Of course having the nickname of "Mad Mike" may have been an indication that all may not go well....)
. . . which ran out of coal and crashed."
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Well…………”round or flat, he sure found out the earth was hard.
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