Flat Earther launches himself to prove Earth flat, dies in crash landing
Dan Broadbent
CONTENT WARNING: the embedded video below may be difficult for some to watch.
As I wrote about a couple days ago, Flat Earther "Mad Mike" launched himself yesterday as part of the show "Homemade Astronauts", a show that will air on the Science Channel later this year.
I guess now we'll never know if the Earth is flat or not.
The show "Homemade Astronauts" documents three civilians as they attempt to reach space on their own: one who has already launched an uncrewed rocket into space, one who is building his own homemade spacesuit, and a Flat Earther who said he 'doesn't believe in science' but wanted to launch himself to prove the Earth was flat.
As I wrote before, his last launch attempt resulted in Mike reaching less than half his targeted altitude of 5000 feet (1.5 kilometers), and a broken back for Mike. After the landing, he said "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."
Note: the Karman Line (an imaginary point that is generally agreed to be where Earth's atmosphere ends and "space" begins) is 100 kilometers, (62 miles) up. It's unclear what altitude Mike was aiming for yesterday, but it appears to be about the same as his first launch, if not slightly lower.
In the video captured by journalist Justin Chapman, you can see what appears to be the parachutes for the rocket deploy during the launch.
If there's anything I've learned from playing Kerbal Space Program, it's to always check your staging before launching.
Mike's rocket then continues its ballistic trajectory, landing in the desert as onlookers scream.
You can watch the full video here:
When you play stupid games, you win stupid prizes.
