"Mad Mike" Hughes, who built a steam-powered rocket in his backyard launched himself Saturday from a ranch in California. He was 64.

One of several articles HERE

The devil is found in the details.

Sorry to hear of this.

I guess he ran out of steam!

Well sounds like he confirmed his theory the earth is flat.

No, the Earth isn't. He is.

I thought he would just go blind.

As Otto Lilienthal said, "Sacrifices must be made."

Nothing good happens in Barstow.

What goes up must come down!!!!!!!!!!

Super Dave Osborne.

Sad the guy died, but at least it was something he was passionate about and on his own terms.

Darwinism at its best

The human genome just got a little cleaner.

That looks like a very expensive way to kill yourself. Hopefully he cash flowed the project and didn’t leave his family any debt to pay off.

He was past reproductive age. the damage is already done.

I remember Super Dave

Heard about that on the radio this morning. It's a shame but I couldn't help but think the guy may have been a little "eccentric", to say the least. I'd like to see a steam powered rocket propulsion system and what it's capable of.

Maybe rpcket science really is rocket science after all.



Even my old Explorer has an annoying bell noise if you don't buckle up.

I don't believe the earth is flat - Columbus fixed that.

Thanks for posting the video.

Memo to self: Two things not to jettison - your parachute, your pilot.

Good for him.
An E-ticket ride on a water heater.
He got to see the curvature of his skull cavity.

Sounds like it wasn't the "homemade astronaut" part that was the problem. It was the homemade rocket.

Is it too late to say "Don't try this at home???"

OOoooooppppssss

I give him credit. Dude had a dream and went all in. His best days were behind him.

He might not have proved the Earth is flat, but he did prove that gravity is real. Damaged and lost his chute on liftoff, and did not have a second chute leading to the sudden stop at the bottom. He tried though.

i wonder what his plan was once he got to 5000 feet?

I wonder at what point he realized the chute was gone.

He had plenty of time to think about what was about to happen.

A friend said: I could do an endless freefall but there's always a planet in the way.

No man who has left the Earth has failed to return.

One of NASA's basic fundamentals: Redundant systems redundancy.

Well, at least he didn't die sitting on his a$$ at 64 in front of the computer or television. A lot worse ways to go at his age.

Good for him. Went out his way. Nothing wrong with that

Fall

He found out the earth is HARD!

Thanks guys. He could have lived a few more years drinking coffee with the gang at Hardees, & then spent 10 more years chitting his pants as he wondered the neighborhood not knowing who he was.

Hmmmm….I don't think the parachute is meant to deploy while the rocket is trying to go up......grin

Thew sad thing is, he was old enough to know better. If steam was the way to go, NASA would have been doing it in the 1950s. Rocketeering is no place for guesswork.

There ain't no good way to go, but on a scale, this one was better than many. Quick, pretty painless, and not bankrupting the family.

I'm learning to fly but I ain't got wings
Coming down is the hardest thing

Tom Petty

Not "was 64" . . . .

Is now and forever will have been 64

Saying he went out his way or that he didn't have any pain seems silly to say .
Opposite :
He could have lived to be a healthy 94 year old man sitting in the shade with his great grand children talking to him .
Anybody who believes the flat earth crap isn't all there .

I know a believer in flat earth - i might send him a link to this and add that this guy is alive and has been kidnapped by the Gov't. because he knows too much .