I put my trust in Waldos assessment of Mike: Hes got a lucky star. Mike, along with Waldo Strakes, built a homemade steam-powered rocket whose intention was to fly 5000 feet in the year. Is the US Next? Mounted nearly 15 degrees from vertical on a launch rail that resembled an industrial-grade erector set, the rocket looked like the kind of thing you might have doodled during an especially tedious junior-high earth science classa slender fuselage bracketed by a needle-shaped nose and four fins at the base. Mike Hughes was born in Barstow, California, in 1955. RIP Mike Hughes And basically, its just to convince people they can do things extraordinary with their lives, and maybe it pushes people to do things they normally wouldnt do with their life that maybe will inspire someone else.. With any luck, the water pressure in the boiler would reach 350 pounds per square inch by noon, and Mike would be able to fly immediately thereafter. To raise money and awareness, they plan to first launch Hughes 5,000 feet high in a steam-powered rocket., Hughes told Forbes in 2018, People think Im rich and Im making all this money off these rocket launches. Fame and fortune? Famously known as "Mad" Mike Hughes, the daredevil rocket-maker died while attempting to blast himself into the sky on February 22, 2020, according to TMZ. The sun was unrelenting, with temperatures often exceeding 110 degrees. He blamed permission difficulties for rescheduling his launch. Two armed but unopened parachutes were still attached to the rocket when it came down. Its not clear what went wrong. He had previously scheduled his launch for 25 November 2017. 'Mad' Mike Hughes was killed in a rocket crash in the desert in California. Coronavirus Is Spreading And So Are the Hoaxes and Conspiracy Theories Around It. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Mike Hughes family and friends during this difficult time, a spokeswoman for the network said in a statement. It seemed odd to many that Hughes believed the Earth was flight despite being a rocket engineer. I could run for president. Mikes limousine parked at El Ranchito Rakete, Waldo Stakes property in Apple Valley, California. [22] The launch event was being filmed for the Science Channel television series Homemade Astronauts, in which Hughes was to star. (Apparently, theyd been stolen by local meth heads.). Mikes height and weight hadnt been disclosed publically. Waldo cajoled me into writing a brief, lighthearted story about the episode. In the days leading up to the fatal crash, Discovery.com posted a video of Hughes showing off the rocket in his front yard. WIRED is where tomorrow is realized. Four months later, after several launches were aborted, there was a successful flight (followed by another brutal landing that left Mike pissing into a bottle for three days because he couldnt make it to the bathroom). Assorted flat-Earthers and conspiracy theorists. Effectively, he was duped by FET (theory and theorists) into recklessly risking his life. But for what? This was partly out of a sense of self-preservation; at this point, the rocket was effectively a bomb. The National Library of Medicine describes Hughes' cause of death as a "rare congenital abnormality" that represents less than 3% of coronary anomalies. Copyright 2023 Penske Business Media, LLC. As freelance journalist Justin Chapman told NPR, the goal of such expeditions was not so much to prove that the earth was flat, as it was to bring attention to the Flat Earth cause. (A representative for Hughes also confirmed this in a statement to BuzzFeed, saying he did not actually believe in the theory and that we used flat Earth as a PR stunt. Ive watched plenty of amateur high-power rocket launches over the years, and I know that they come off the rail fast, not with the deliberate majesty of a Saturn V straining against the bounds of gravity. So the carnival headed back to Amboy last summer. [5][6][7] He stated during an interview with the Associated Press in 2018 that he had planned to run for Governor of California. Daredevil "Mad Mike" Hughes died during an attempt to launch his homemade rocket Saturday. Despite the utter lack of evidence surrounding the Flat Earth theory and intense criticism from scientists like Neil deGrasse Tyson, the Flat Earth theory has gained traction in recent years (one 2018 poll found that two percent of more than 10,000 respondents harbored such views), and has been promoted by such high-profile figures as Kyrie Irving and musician B.o.B. Mad Mike Hughes died Saturday at age 64. Was it worth it to create the awareness?, Sargent asked, referring to the communitys helping to fund and draw attention to Hughess suicidal efforts. He must have realized that the launch was a fools play, pulling to an inside straight, but it was the only play he had. Others have claimed that Hughes was whisked away by authorities to learn from him, and so his death was staged as a cover for Hughes disappearance. Not only that, his childrens identity remains confined. The launch was initially scheduled for last August but was moved several times due to technical difficulties. The mood was upbeat and anticipatory, not unlike the crowd assembled for a rock music festival, but without the weed. Hughes died in a rocket crash on February 22, 2020. In the year 2016, Mike launched a program to make a rocket but failed by earning $310. No more delays. Down the line! It drives me crazy. Fatal Rocket Crash Landing", "Daredevil dies during homemade rocket launch in California", "A Daredevil Flat Earther Died After Attempting To Launch Himself 5,000 Feet With A Homemade Rocket", "Mike Hughes, 64, D.I.Y. Later analysis of the wreckage would show that the launch apparatus Mike had put together caused the left side of the nozzle to rip free from the rocket when the water was released. This was in Amboy. A heater core leaked. I didnt see it. Hughes' third and final rocket launch, on February 22, 2020, ended in his death at the age of 64. I took Mike aside and told him, Dont get in that rocket unless you feel comfortable. As it happened, the rocket wasnt ready to fly in time. Waldo, Mike, and their small but intensely loyal and hard-working crew were constantly clambering over the rocket and the launch rigwelding, hammering, grinding, cutting. He later changed his schedule to 2 December 2017. [27][28], Hughes was the main focus of the 2019 documentary Rocketman: Mad Mike's Mission to Prove the Flat-Earth. A risk that was too high. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. 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The WIRED conversation illuminates how technology is changing every aspect of our livesfrom culture to business, science to design. On Saturday, 64-year-old "Mad" Mike Hughes was killed when a rocket he was attached to crashed in the desert in San Bernardino County, California. Hughes famously launched himself nearly 1,900 feet upward in a homemade steam-powered rocket early in 2018. Given the tragic turn of events, its doubtful that this series will go forward. Others were more somber, stating that his passing was proof of the dangers of believing wholeheartedly in dangerous anti-scientific beliefs. Grinning fiercely, Waldo told me, Im going to send this guy into space, and people are going to go, Two fucking hillbillies living in Apple Valley built a spaceship, promoted it themselves, hooked it to a balloon, and launched him into space.. There is nothing in the world I could have done to prevent Mike from riding a steam rocket to his death, but I didnt have to be there when it happened. We all understood that the chances of success were minimal. Some prominent flat-earthers dont appear to have a regular job, so one must wonder how they make money. Waldo walked back from the crash, looking grim. Hughes and Stakes were one of three teams that working to get as close to space, or the Karman line, the invisible line which is 62 miles (99.78 km) above Earths surface that is often thought of as the beginning of space., Hughes was known for attempting to blast off in a rocket that was made using mostly spare parts and during a launch in March 2018, he needed to deploy his parachute after making it a half-mile into the sky. Our thoughts & prayers go out to his family & friends during this difficult time. A generator wasnt making enough power. Death Cause. He was an American limo driver and daredevil who gained the limelight for flying in self-built rockets. Hughes stated that the injuries suffered from the flight put him in a walker for two weeks. He raised thousands of dollars onGoFundMe to finance the construction of his rockets. The following weekend, the launch was again postponed and Hughes was treated for heat exhaustion. I felt the hollow ache of nervous anticipation as Mike strapped on his helmet and climbed the stairs to the cockpit. His journey was to be featured on Homemade Astronauts, a series on the Science Channel. Waldo (left) and Mike confer at the launch in Amboy. Before his death, Mike had lived a married man. To be sure, Mike was a conspiracy theorist par excellence. Larry and I found them about 20 yards away, a shredded tangle of green-and-purple nylon. But it occurred to me that if Hughes were to die in a launch, those promoting the flat-earth movement would have at least some blood on their hands. Daredevil 'Mad' Mike Hughes has died after launching himself into the air on a homemade rocket that later crash landed, possibly due to a parachute malfunction. He was quite the celebrity among that flat-earthers at that meeting. Before her death, she got married to Franklin Delano Floyd, which made him put Michael in foster care. "Mad Mike" Hughes died on February 22 when the parachutes on his homemade steam rocket failed to deploy and he augured into the sagebrush near Barstow, California, like a giant lawn dart . Last spring, Waldo called to tell me hed hatched a crazily ambitious plan: He wanted to send Mike into space. Everybody lingered near the launch pad in a surreal state of shock and confusion. [29][30], Daredevil Mad Mike Hughes Death, Rocket Crash, reach above the atmosphere into outer space, List of inventors killed by their own inventions, "Self-Taught Rocket Scientist Mad Mike Hughes Plans to Launch Over Ghost Town", "Daredevil dies after homemade rocket crashes in desert while filming TV show", "Death of rocket man 'Mad Mike' Hughes ends years of close calls", "A flat-Earther's plan to launch himself in a homemade rocket has been postponed again", "Flat-Earther's steam-powered rocket lofts him 1,875 feet up into Mojave Desert sky", "Flat-Earther 'Mad' Mike Hughes forced to delay launch of homemade rocket", "A flat-Earther's plan to launch himself in a homemade rocket just hit a speed bump", "Self-taught rocket scientist 'Mad' Mike Hughes blasts off into California sky", "Self-taught rocket scientist eyes new launch date in Calif", "Analysis | A flat-earther finally tried to fly away. We want to hear it. Felix Baumgartner and Alan Eustace had spent a gazillion dollars and years of preparation on sophisticated equipment and huge engineering teams to ride balloons up 24 and 26 miles, respectively, and then parachute back to terra firma. Mikes first launch, from a remote site near Winkelman, Arizona, in 2014, should have been his last. Over the years, hed worked as a motorcycle racer, race car fabricator, race car mechanic, NASCAR crew chief, and limousine driver. Waldo told me a generator was down on power. The 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time He launched a failed fundraising attempt for a rocket in 2016. What happened during 9/11. He further added that rockets are mostly self built through trial and error and you dont get a lot of second chances, though, in the rocket business. His launch was reportedly filmed as part of Homemade Astronauts, a new TV series about amateur rocket makers. Id met Mike before, but this was my first extended conversation with him. Robbie Kneivel, who spent his life in the family business of defying death, passed away on Friday after a fight with pancreatic cancer By Laurenz Busch - January 13, 2023 Robbie Knievel, who. Hughes had no close relatives and lived alone in Apple Valley with his four cats, Brusseau and Linn said. A group of spectators gathered around him. I dont want to take anyone elses word for it, he said after a March 2018 launch in the Mojave Desert in which he shot his homemade rocket over 1,800 feet into the sky, I dont know if the world is flat or round.. But the crews lack of urgency told a different story. Try downloading another browser like Chrome or Firefox. In November 2017, Mike claimed to give verbal permission from the Bureau of Land Management, which was approved, whereas the Federal Aviation Administration kept is pending approval. But, on the 24th of March 2018, he was successful in reaching the height of 1,875 feet and had a hard landing in the Mojave desert. Hughes defiantly stated that the dispute would not stop him from flying: "I'm a daredevil. Video posted online shows the exact moment Mad Mike Hughes homemade rocket came crashing down to Earth after a failed launch attempt, killing the self-styled daredevil. I'm not much for authority or rules. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to Mike Hughes' family and friends during this difficult time. Not because I designed or built the rocket, and not because I belted him into the cockpit. To them, this was just a lark. However, his landing led him three days to recover. Michael passed away of cause of death on month day 1958, at age 5 at death place, Colorado. He built his first manned rocket in 2014 a contraption he called the X-2 SkyLimo and managed to launch himself more than 1,300 feet over Winkelman, Ariz., he told the Associated Press. It is the essential source of information and ideas that make sense of a world in constant transformation. You can also sign up for our free print newsletter (US only). A handful of newcomers had shown up. They didnt, naturally. That is nonsense. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Hell, Im on Medicaid!. According to a journal published in. He desperately wanted to be rich and famous and realized that his most marketable asset was his willingness to risk his life, so he risked it often. This was it. His publicist, Darren Shuster, said Saturday that the flat Earth thing was a PR stunt we dreamed up to get publicity and attract sponsors for the rockets that the self-taught engineer made in his garage at his home in Apple Valley, Calif. Over the next couple years, Hughes began saying in interviews that he believed the earth was flat Frisbee-shaped, and that he wanted to go up into space to make sure. The breakthroughs and innovations that we uncover lead to new ways of thinking, new connections, and new industries. 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