# Flat-Earther builds a rocket **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 22, 2017, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earther-builds-a-rocket/802427 "2017-11-22T18:00:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earther-builds-a-rocket/802427/81 "2020-02-23T12:40:40Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > I’m missing the obligatory line “There were no witnesses”. Did he sneak off and do this with no audience of well-wishers? Or did they all creep quietly away to establish their alibis, so as not to be accessories? There’s video of the launch [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLuBDojtefA). Not really much to see. The rocket going up with lots of exhaust. In the middle of it, an empty parachute comes out; rocket keeps going up. Not much else. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earther-builds-a-rocket/802427/82 "2020-02-23T12:41:38Z")
> **['Mad' Mike Hughes dies after crash-landing homemade rocket](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-51602655)** > > "Mad" Mike Hughes, 64, wanted to launch himself into space to prove that the Earth was flat. There is a link there to a video of the last flight. I’m on My phone so I can’t link directly to it. Sadly, they don’t show anyone holding the beer. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earther-builds-a-rocket/802427/83 "2020-02-23T12:44:52Z")
\Obviously he was shot down before he could expose the truth\ ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earther-builds-a-rocket/802427/84 "2020-02-23T12:51:17Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Not exactly nice of me, I know, but this is exactly the kind of update I was hoping to see. I wasn’t hoping to see it but as soon as I saw this thread was updated my first thought was “This guy hasn’t killed himself yet”? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earther-builds-a-rocket/802427/85 "2020-02-23T14:09:52Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > \Obviously he was shot down before he could expose the truth\ He knew too much, and the minions of Big Round got to him. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earther-builds-a-rocket/802427/86 "2020-02-23T14:38:15Z")
The fact that a flat earther had a show on the ‘Science Channel’ makes me question their commitment to actual science. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earther-builds-a-rocket/802427/87 "2020-02-23T14:44:54Z")
I missed the edit window. There is video of the launch on Youtube. I saw a clip from a news station that showed the launch but not the crash. It looks like at least one of the parachutes was deployed at the time of launch, sort of like what happened to Evel Knievel during his Snake River thing. There was also a great comment. “In order to prove the flatness, you must become the flatness”. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earther-builds-a-rocket/802427/88 "2020-02-23T15:02:35Z")
He died like he lived: an idiot. I think we should invent an award even higher than the Darwin Award. Darwin Laureate, maybe? ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earther-builds-a-rocket/802427/89 "2020-02-23T15:28:38Z")
If he was attached to that parachute I’m not surprised at all he’s dead. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earther-builds-a-rocket/802427/90 "2020-02-23T15:36:56Z")
Here it is the launch and crash on youtube. It does show a long-distance shot of the rocket crashing, but nothing gruesome. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/WE-_erpJ9Xo/hqdefault.jpg "Mad Mike Hughes dead after crash landing his homemade steam powered rocket in California") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE-_erpJ9Xo) ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earther-builds-a-rocket/802427/91 "2020-02-23T15:41:52Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Dunno - I’ve seen flat-earthers claim that the curvature in those experiments is just fisheye lens effect (I mean, it clearly isn’t, but you can’t convince these people with evidence) I hate to say it but I think they are right. Not about the earth being flat obviously, but with respect to the fish eye effect, at least for the video Dewey Finn posted. You can see the horizon bend and straighten as the camera sways around, so there must be a lot of optical distortion. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earther-builds-a-rocket/802427/92 "2020-02-23T15:57:56Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Here it is the launch and crash on youtube. It does show a long-distance shot of the rocket crashing, but nothing gruesome. > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE-\_erpJ9Xo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE-_erpJ9Xo) Damn. That thing looked just like a missile fired at the ground. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earther-builds-a-rocket/802427/93 "2020-02-23T16:04:55Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > If he was attached to that parachute I’m not surprised at all he’s dead. That parachute is what was supposed to safely lower his rocket back to the ground at the end [like this](https://youtube.com/watch?v=eIxSiAsJYf0). The wind makes the audio (of the crash, not my link) hard to understand, but I like the calm, understated “uh oh” from some woman as the flight begins. (Possibly the same one that yells “fuck” as the flight ends.) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earther-builds-a-rocket/802427/94 "2020-02-23T17:07:51Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > …I like the calm, understated “uh oh” from some woman as the flight begins. Memorably, “Uh oh” were the last words of Dick Scobee, commander of the Space Shuttle Challenger. (Really.) ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earther-builds-a-rocket/802427/95 "2020-02-23T17:09:41Z")
Once again the comments are pure gold: -Possible epitaph: Here lies Mike, who went splat, trying to prove that the Earth was flat. -The show was later changed to “Journey to the center of earth!.” -He hit the dome and confirmed gravity. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earther-builds-a-rocket/802427/96 "2020-02-23T17:09:58Z")
Can we rebuild him? Do we have the technology? The Science Channel documentary series he was gathering material for is called _Homemade Astronauts_, which I have to admit sounds somewhat akin to _Improvised Surgery_. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earther-builds-a-rocket/802427/97 "2020-02-23T17:35:57Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Memorably, “Uh oh” were the last words of Dick Scobee, commander of the Space Shuttle Challenger. (Really.) Well, the last transmitted ones. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earther-builds-a-rocket/802427/98 "2020-02-23T17:52:31Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > Once again the comments are pure gold: > > -Possible epitaph: Here lies Mike, who went splat, trying to prove that the Earth was flat. > -The show was later changed to “Journey to the center of earth!.” > -He hit the dome and confirmed gravity. I really liked “He went to Flat Heaven.” Meanwhile, they have a recording of his last words–something about some oaf named Huck? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earther-builds-a-rocket/802427/99 "2020-02-23T18:12:55Z")
**Spiny Norman** doesn’t post here anymore, but elsewhere he said: > [@Robert Heinlein](#): > > Stupidity is the only universal capital crime; the sentence is death. There is no appeal, and execution is carried out automatically and without pity. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earther-builds-a-rocket/802427/100 "2020-02-23T18:20:53Z")
I don’t understand the mission at all. His goal was to build a rocket that would get to 40,000 feet to prove the earth was round? He could have chartered a private jet to 50,000 feet and saved a lot of time and money and taken his flat earth investors with him. He was able to verify Newton’s law of gravity as well as the formula 9.8m per second squared. There’s even a website for his investors to calculate the numbers. [The Splat Calculator.](https://www.angio.net/personal/climb/speed.html) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earther-builds-a-rocket/802427.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earther-builds-a-rocket/802427.md?page=6)