Flat Earth Man Delivers On His Promise And Launches Himself In His Homemade Rocket

We previously saw the man set out to prove the Earth was flat. He promised that he would be launching himself in a homemade rocket and the flat earth man has finally delivered. He not only launched himself in the homemade rocket but came back down in one piece as well.

Mike Hughes known as the flat earth man propelled himself about 1,875 feet into the air this Saturday and landed in the Mojave Desert. The press covering the launch claimed that he is only suffering from a backache after the flight and is otherwise completely fine.

“Relieved,” he said after being checked out by paramedics. “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.” The launch was initially scheduled to be in November but it was delayed a couple of times due to some logistical issues with the Bureau of Land Management and due to mechanical problems that kept showing themselves.

The 61-year old flat earth man used a mobile home to turn it into a ramp and modified it to launch at a vertical angle so he doesn’t risk falling back on public land. He has been working away on his homemade rocket these past months and his efforts finally bore fruit.

Saturday’s flight was looking to be another cancellation as the wind was blowing and the rocket was losing steam. 350 psi was to be achieved for maximum thrust but it was dropping to 340. “I told Mike we could try to keep charging it up and get it hotter,” said Waldo Stakes, who’s been helping Hughes with his endeavour. “He said, ‘No.'”

Hughes reached an estimated speed of 350 mph before pulling the parachute and was still dropping too fast and had to deploy an additional one. He landed with a thud and the rocket’s nose broke in two places. But, that is no cause to worry, because it was designed to break this way.

“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.”

Albert Okura bought the land where the flat earth man landed back in 2005 for $435,000. Okura attended the launch and said the total ordeal lasted around 3 to 4 minutes. The rocket landed some 1,500 feet away from the launch ramp. “Mike branded us as ‘Rocket Town,'” Okura said. “It was amazing.”

“I hope he doesn’t blow something up,” retired NASA astronaut Jerry Linenger said as Hughes’ plans captured widespread attention. Linenger orbited the globe more than 2,000 times during four months in 1997. “Rocketry, as our private space companies found out, isn’t as easy as it looks.”

However, Hughes was used to dealing with critics and often exchanges words with them on social media. He wanted to prove that Earth is not round as we are led to believe. “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.”

“My story really is incredible,” 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.”

He has even more ambitious plans for the future and wants to run for governor. “This is no joke,” Hughes said. “I want to do it.” We will have to wait and see what he has planned for the future and where his future endeavours take him.

You can check out the video of the launch below: