Flat Earther's Homemade Rocket Launcher Breaks Down in His Driveway (desertsun.com) 246
The Desert Sun has an update on the progress of 61-year-old self-taught rocket scientist 'Mad' Mike Hughes:
A man who believes Earth is flat, and was ready to launch himself from a rocket in California on Saturday afternoon to prove it, has canceled his plans. At least for now. Not having the required federal permits plus mechanical problems with his "motorhome/rocket launcher" forced self-taught rocket scientist "Mad" Mike Hughes to put his experiment on hold. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management "told me they would not allow me to do the event ... at least not at that location," Hughes said in a YouTube announcement, amid international attention over his plans to launch into the "atmosflat."
"It's been very disappointing," he said... "My feeling is that one of the top executives at the Bureau of Land Management called Needles, California, saying... 'What's going on? Who permitted this?'" Hughes said. Plus, as he and his team were preparing to leave Wednesday, the motorhome/rocket launcher broke down in his driveway, he said... His plan is to try again next week.
"It's been very disappointing," he said... "My feeling is that one of the top executives at the Bureau of Land Management called Needles, California, saying... 'What's going on? Who permitted this?'" Hughes said. Plus, as he and his team were preparing to leave Wednesday, the motorhome/rocket launcher broke down in his driveway, he said... His plan is to try again next week.
Altitude Record (Score:2, Funny)
He hopes someday his rocket will go higher than a building.
It looks like (Score:5, Funny)
Re:It looks like (Score:4, Funny)
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The difference is, Coyote had to mail order it all, using money.
This guy got the flat earthers to pay him to build the rocket. It isn't his first rocket; his first one was also human-cannonball style.
He converted to flat-earther when they agreed to pay him to do this, and fund construction. That is why it has their ad on the side.
It is almost impressive the way he's gone from, "yeah, they're paying me to do it!" to just spewing their talking points wholeheartedly as the event approaches.
He's a stunt man. It
He should really get a paramotor (Score:2)
These flying wings can get to 15,000+ feet and are under $10,000 including training. (highest paraglider of any kind was 24,848 feet)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
Bonus points- you can't see curvature of the earth from that low.
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A weather balloon, and a camera are a hell of a lot cheaper.
https://phys.org/news/2017-01-... [phys.org]
Re: He should really get a paramotor (Score:3)
Balloons are round. Clearly the makers must be in league with THEM.
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funny, at an altitude of the height of my eyeballs I can see evidence of the curvature of the earth as things move away with the bottoms disappearing first as they go "over the horizon"
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I like watching bottoms too.
Re:He should really get a paramotor (Score:5, Informative)
The reason for this according to flat earthers is that the light "falls down" and thus it LOOKS like the ships disappear into the horizon but instead what really happens is that the light from the ship falls down in front of you. First, of course, you start to no longer see the lower parts, because they're closer to the ground.
Discussing flat earthers and other fringe theorists is a bit of a hobby of mine. They're a really creative bunch.
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wow, so we live on the surface of a neutron star. that's why shoveling dirt is so tiring.
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But of course! Since Earth is the center of the universe, it also must be axiomatically the heaviest thing in the universe.
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well yes, we keep having to add turtles to maintain standard g, duh!
Ahhhh. Faith and the science of anti-science (Score:2)
Faith allows one to believe the unbelievable. Indeed that is often the point. The anti-science firestorm we are witnessing is fascinating and somewhat scary, but it is nothing new. The other term for The Dark Ages is The Age of Faith. Truth was defined by a doctrine of authority, not necessarily by evidence. This served the power elite. Then the Church. We now have powerful institutions whose interests often run counter to scientific evidence. So they contrive a doctrine of authority deliberately by bribing
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Well, first of all, NASA and all the other space agencies are in on a conspiracy. They pretty much have to be, or the pictures of Earth from space would be really hard to explain. So they're all conspiring so we keep paying them. Yes, including Russia and the US during the space race. They just both didn't debunk it because the Russians had their first space man and NASA of course wanted money for some black projects that were really expensive, so they didn't debunk the Russians.
Satellites are just like wea
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Timezones happen because the sun works like a lamp with a cone of light shining on the disc and this "lamp" moves around it. Light also works considerably different. It's a lot of "explaining on your feet" and making up shit as questions come along, but they have their bases covered. It starts to fall apart no later than when you leave the planet and try to explain the other planets and how they move (something the geocentric model had huge problems with, too) and of course the other stars and why some can
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I wouldn't even bother with rational arguments. I'd bet that not one in a thousand who claim to "seriously believe" in a flat earth would actually stake their life on the correctness of their beliefs. They're just fans of ridiculous conspiracy theories, are contrarian by nature, or are desperate to seek attention (that describes this fellow, I think). The amount of physical evidence you'd have to willfully ignore to maintain such beliefs is somewhat staggering.
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Because apparently the edge of the world, what we mistakenly believe to be "Antarctica", is a giant ice ring 150 feet tall that holds all the oceans in, and is zealously guarded by NASA. Eclipses are hand-waved away with some "invisible" object that's blocking light. I don't know how the hell they explain away tides, or the Coriolis effect. GPS satellites are fakes to simply give the *illusion* of being on a globe. All NASA pictures are "Photoshopped", nevermind that the technology to effectively fake p
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From my experience many simply want to put themselves back in the centre of the universe - its a spiritual thing. Basically, they don't want to buy into the 'nihilistic' perspective that it is an uncaring universe and they are a tiny irrerevant spec (not how they would put it, but from reading between the lines and knowing them personally). Flat Earth and many other conspiracies help them create a world view where not only is the Earth at the centre of a much simpler universe (one probably created by God/Go
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Dude, he's seeking attention because they're paying him to do it with their logo on the side. Seeking attention is what advertising is about!
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Bonus points- you can't see curvature of the earth from that low.
Why do you have to see the curvature for proof?
Pick a direction and keep flying that way, he'll either
A. Circumnavigate the earth and come back to where he started, proving Flat Earth wrong.
B. Eventually come to the end of the Flat Earth, and will be able to get photographic proof (that no Flat Earther has yet ever managed to provide)
C. Keep going and end up in strange lands not on any map.
But then again, watching some deluded twat do his best Wile E Coyote impression into a rock fac
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The same thing happened in King's Quest II and I'm pretty sure all the zones were flat.
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Their counter argument is that the Earth is a disc with the north pole at the center and the "south pole" actually being the edge of the disc. So circumnavigation is possible, but instead of around the ball, you travel along a circle on the disc.
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Problem is circumnavigating at the tropic of Capricorn https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org] versus the tropic of cancer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]. They are kind of much the same distance rather than one being well, enormously larger than the other.
You could feel sorry for their lack of ability to understand but their world via their abilities to perceive and understand must be full of wonderment and magic, ignorance is bliss ( understanding kind of strips the fun out things, well at least at one level
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Exactly. At one level I have to admire their world building skills. They should channel it into game design instead.
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I'm still waiting for the explanation why a flight from New York to Paris takes about 3 hours, a flight from Johannesburg to Perth about 4, despite on their "map" the latter is further than the distance between New York and Tokyo and should take at the very least 8-10 hours.
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This specific launch wasn't meant to prove the Earth is flat. It was meant to be a stepping stone to an eventual space launch.
Re: He should really get a paramotor (Score:5, Insightful)
Have you ever personally verified that the Earth is round? Few have.
Anyone who has travelled to a different latitude and has seen the difference in the positions of the stars has seen first-hand that the Earth is a spheroid. That's not a "few" people.
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Ancient Greeks figured out the Earth was spherical about 2400 years ago, just based on observations of the stars and planets. It's basic math.
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As the grandparent said, if you've watched a ship sail away you can verify the curvature of the earth at sea level.
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”Oh, look what a strange optical illusion I found up here!”
Not in a single shot, but accumulating experiences from various trusted parties - I have met people living in Asia or Oceania in Europe and North America. We have discussed itineraries. They have sometimes travelled eastwards, sometimes westwards. So have I (flying from North America). The o
Re: He should really get a paramotor (Score:5, Insightful)
Have you ever personally verified that the Earth is round?
Have any flat earthers personally verified that the Earth is flat ?
Get a bunch of flat earthers from different places in the world in an on-line chat, and ask them to measure the angle of the sun. Repeat a few times at different hours. Now try to construct a flat Earth model that matches all the observations. Try the same with a standard round Earth.
Rewhat does the underside of the earth look like? (Score:2, Informative)
Turtles..all the way down...
encouragement (Score:2)
Re:encouragement (Score:5, Insightful)
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I fully encourage this splat-earther mission. May Darwin bless him.
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You mean courageous people who don't believe in science? We already have lots of those. Here in the US, we call them, "Republicans".
Citation needed.
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It's Dutch courage.
Re:encouragement (Score:5, Interesting)
There is no reason to level disdain and malice toward this man.
He has his own sort of courage and intellect, let him be.
Alas, no. His "courage and intellect" are not helpful. His motivation is not the kind of good-faith naïveté that seeks to discover new things. It is the kind of stubborn blindness that seeks to affirm rigid beliefs that are not supported by evidence.
Let him be? Perhaps. But let's not celebrate his ignorance.
Re: encouragement (Score:2)
"With real education?" This guy had a chance at real education already, and rejected it. He believes there is no difference between science and science fiction. And yet the laws of aerodynamics and Newton don't seem fictional to him.
When I hear you rant about banks and education, I anticipate something next about "precious bodily fluids."
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I don't have any problem with someone who wants to see how high he can shoot himself in a steam rocket *for thrills*. Or for the satisfaction of building and operating a really dangerous contraption.
The problem I have is the arrogant ignorance of thinking that *proves* something.
When I was in college I learned to read tarot cards on a lark; I saw them in the bookstore and the design appealed to me. It turned out I was really good at it, uncannily good at it. But it's purest egotism to believe that kind
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Feel free to write your own on target, large impact, smashing success and sky's the limit jokes...
He did pick up flat Earth AFTER fundraising (Score:2)
I've read that he did start hanging out with the flat-Earth people AFTER he'd been fundraising for his rocket project.
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I've read that he did start hanging out with the flat-Earth people AFTER he'd been fundraising for his rocket project.
A group of idiots and their money are soon parted.
Flatcoin, now backed by Tesla stock (Score:2)
> A group of idiots and their money are soon parted.
Hmm, good point. Now announcing the newest and hottest pyramid^H^H^H^H^H^H^H blockchain currency, Flatcoin! The Flatcoin algorithm is designed to radically increase the value of the your Flatcoin as California falls off the edge of the flat earth due to glob^H^H^H^Hplatal warming. But wait, there's more! Today only, you can buy your very own solid-state Flatcoin mining rig which is powered by unlimited free energy from nuclear fallout from unsustain
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His "team" (Score:4, Funny)
... as he and his team were preparing to leave Wednesday ...
Meaning, his wife, dog, and two grand-kids visiting for Thanksgiving -- all holding globes of the Earth they got at the airport gift shop (and, yes, that includes the dog).
From T (original) FA (Score:5, Funny)
“I don’t believe in science,” said Hughes, whose main sponsor for the rocket is Research Flat Earth. “I know about aerodynamics and fluid dynamics and how things move through the air, about the certain size of rocket nozzles, and thrust. But that’s not science, that’s just a formula. There’s no difference between science and science fiction.”
I can't even ...
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“I don’t believe in science,” said Hughes, whose main sponsor for the rocket is Research Flat Earth. “I know about aerodynamics and fluid dynamics and how things move through the air, about the certain size of rocket nozzles, and thrust. But that’s not science, that’s just a formula. There’s no difference between science and science fiction.”
I can't even ...
If words fail you that's OK, they let him down pretty badly too...
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I haven't been evening since he was quoted as saying this a few days ago. I'm not actually sure if I can even again.
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I can't even ...
Apparently neither can he.
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Now if he wants to get the right permits and launch it somewhere vaguely safe, like the middle of the desert, aka Mythbusters, then I wish him the best (not really).
Exactly. If he'd done this as par of Burning Man, nobody would have noticed, until it exploded and killed a bunch of people.
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You're on Slashdot: a site full of impossibly ignorant fools that pride themselves on their knowledge, skill, and competence.
If "an acceptable excuse for such blatant ignorance" exists, this isn't a bad place to start looking.
Motor-home/Rocket-launcher (Score:3)
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Motorhome/rocket-launcher?
That's something I expect from North Korea or a 1980s Bill Murray movie. Sometimes I get the two confused.
scientist (Score:5, Insightful)
>"forced self-taught rocket scientist "Mad" Mike "
"scientist", really? Seems like a very odd word to use in a summary explaining he seriously [??] thinks the earth is flat?
Perhaps self-taught mechanic, or self-taught assembler or something.
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"scientist", really?
I mean... he has a hypothesis and he's testing it. Sounds like science. Still a nutjob.
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"scientist", really?
I mean... he has a hypothesis and he's testing it. Sounds like science. Still a nutjob.
What exactly ie the hypothesis? For the life of me, I can't think of anything that would prove the earth flat or globular at 1500 feet.
This is just more 21st century American reality Television race to the bottom bullshit where we make stupid people famous. And my gawd, it shows. The best thing to come out of it might be his life serving as a warning to others.
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"scientist", really?
Contrary to popular belief, there are stupid scientists. There's no rule that says scientists have to be brilliant and smart, they can be stupid and dimwitted too.
Heck, may as well go on and say, there are probably more stupid scientists than smart ones. There's no reason the scientist label is exempt from the norm of humanity. Way more stupid than there is smart.
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"scientist", really?
Contrary to popular belief, there are stupid scientists. There's no rule that says scientists have to be brilliant and smart, they can be stupid and dimwitted too.
Now explain how a person who states that he doesn't believe in science can be a scientist. Most of us have a belief in science as a mandatory requirement.
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"scientist", really?
Contrary to popular belief, there are stupid scientists. There's no rule that says scientists have to be brilliant and smart, they can be stupid and dimwitted too.
Now explain how a person who states that he doesn't believe in science can be a scientist. Most of us have a belief in science as a mandatory requirement.
I believe the word for that is *irony*. Delicious, hilarious irony.
I believe you are correct.
We have allowed the idiots to take charge long enough. When denying science becomes a platform and litmus test for those who dare to call themselves "conservative" it's time for the adults to take charge again.
Accepting science is not a liberal or conservative value. Denying it apparently is.
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If you map the earth in a spherical reference frame [xkcd.com], it's flat.
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Their line is written on the side of the rocket. And he will tow it across the sky, trolling for dollars.
But if he wants to toe up to the line, he better call for a tow.
Mad Mike Is Right (Score:5, Funny)
Viewing curvature from 1500 feet (Score:5, Insightful)
So he builds a rocket expected to reach 1,500 feet.... When there is an 11,500 foot mountain 50 miles from Amboy with a trail right to the tippy top.and a 360 degree view of the horizon - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
Call me crazy but I really don't think this has anything to do with 'flat earth', science or rockets. He got his picture in the paper. End of story.
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So he builds a rocket expected to reach 1,500 feet.... When there is an 11,500 foot mountain 50 miles from Amboy with a trail right to the tippy top.and a 360 degree view of the horizon - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
Call me crazy but I really don't think this has anything to do with 'flat earth', science or rockets. He got his picture in the paper. End of story.
Or if he didn't want to make the drive he could have taken a ride in a hot air balloon: [hotairballoon.org]
HOW HIGH DO BALLOONS GO?
Flights in hot air balloons have been recorded at over 50,000 feet. However, the sport of ballooning is most enjoyable when flying 1,200 to 3,000 feet. Or just above the treetops. When balloons fly over populated areas, they maintain an altitude of at least 1,000 feet.
This has nothing to do with proving a flat earth, it's entirely about the publicity and the fact he wanted to make a rocket.
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So he builds a rocket expected to reach 1,500 feet.... When there is an 11,500 foot mountain 50 miles from Amboy with a trail right to the tippy top.and a 360 degree view of the horizon - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
Call me crazy but I really don't think this has anything to do with 'flat earth', science or rockets. He got his picture in the paper. End of story.
He wants a reality show series on the Discovery Channel that comes on right after Ancielt Aliens.
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It's a test launch on the path to an eventual space flight. He says.
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So he builds a rocket expected to reach 1,500 feet.... When there is an 11,500 foot mountain 50 miles from Amboy with a trail right to the tippy top.and a 360 degree view of the horizon - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
Call me crazy but I really don't think this has anything to do with 'flat earth', science or rockets. He got his picture in the paper. End of story.
Lies!
Did you not RTFA? The earth is flat!
That "mountain" is clearly an optical illusion!
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Yeah, basic fail there.
And in the desert, there are days when you can visually "prove" that the Earth is not flat, but rather is a concave bowl: damp morning and a local inversion can turn valleys into lenses that produce this bowl-like optical illusion, and also let you see distant stuff that's normally over the horizon.
The actual reason: his mom grounded him (Score:2)
With no desert
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I think the actual reason is that he was worried about crashing his rocket... with no survivors. Now was, in fact, the time for fear.
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With no desert
That must be why he is so keen to launch this thing in the desert, because his mom wouldn't give him any.
But she gave him plenty of dessert, which is why he didn't become a pastry chef.
Future Darwin Award (Score:2)
I hope it blows up spectacularly. He'll get a darwin award for sure.
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Just to be clear... (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm not convinced this guy is really a "flat earther." Apparently, he only started "believing" in it within the last year or so, and after his first failed Kickstarted didn't generate enough backers. Suddenly, he starts advertising his Flat Earth chops and his follow up Kickstarter gets the attention needed for proper funding.
Sounds more like a marketing tactic to me...
Anyway, I'm not trying to call the guy out as some kind of Flat Earth Wannabe or anything, but the media seems really committed to playing right into his hand.
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Flat-Eathers are trolls.
Nothing more, nothing less.
Good try though.
He trolled you (Score:2)
Black Rock City - Burning Man (Score:2)
Just as well (Score:3)
It's a conspiracy by Big Rocket (Score:4, Funny)
They just want to keep their monopoly on chemical reactions and Newtonian mechanics.
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They just want to keep their monopoly on chemical reactions and Newtonian mechanics.
You just gave me a great idea... I'm going to patent Physics! Thank you so much I'm going to be RICH!!!
Needles, California (Score:3)
I drove through Needles, California back in August when we moved here to the Central Coast from Houston. I can understand why he would want to launch himself into space.
Shooting for the Darwin awards? (Score:2)
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I bet this guy has us all tricked and he is really just trying to win the Darwin Award.
And the golden casket award for best Darwin award goes to....(drum roll)...
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Not surprising... (Score:2)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
Why a rocket? (Score:2)
Does he also not believe that airplanes get to 35,000 ft? I mean, why launch yourself a few thousand feet using a steam rocket when you could buy a nice comfy first class ticket and enjoy the view of the curvature from 35,000 ft?
Unless he thinks that a large chunk of the human population (air travelers) is in on the conspiracy.
Sad, really... (Score:2)
Re:permit (Score:5, Funny)
That's what the globe producing lobby wants you to think.
There's a reason they call it a global conspiracy.
Re:permit (Score:4, Funny)
There's a reason they call it a global conspiracy.
Damn straight. Those conspiracy theorists are flat wrong. Good thing there are level headed people in charge.
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That's what the globe producing lobby wants you to think.
There's a reason they call it a global conspiracy.
Now that's funny right there!
Sorry Larry
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Re:He deserves his horrible fiery death let's face (Score:5, Funny)
I once used an Estes C6-7 to launch a Revell model of a 1966 Thunderbird that belonged to my cousin. We never found the wreckage, so I assume it made it out of the Earth's gravitational field and is probably orbiting the Earth. My cousin was pissed off, but it was either his model Thunderbird or his hamster, so I'm pretty sure he got off easy.
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From his interviews, the timeline seems to be, he did the first launch just as a stunt man. That is why his design flies mostly horizontal; it is human-cannonball style.
Then he met one of the "research flat earth" people, who offered to pay to put the logo on the side for another launch. It was after he agreed to do it that he says he started thinking about their ideas.
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It's because his driveway is flat. Everyone knows driveways should be round.
Think before you comment. What are the definitions of the following words?
Spherical
Curved
Round
You're welcome.