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All rights reserved. People ask me why I do stuff like this, he said. Send us a tip using our anonymous form. Hughes died in a rocket crash on February 22, 2020. Mikes height and weight hadnt been disclosed publically. The documentary has a happy ending, one that the filmmakers wish translated to real life. 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. MIKE, THROW THE GODDAMNED CHUTE!. And luckily it didnt turn out that way for us that day.. A US daredevil pilot has been killed during an attempted launch of a homemade rocket in the Californian desert. But if it had been, Mike would have ignored my advice. He raised only $310. [4] I knew Waldo and several other team members were unhappy with the design of the apparatus Mike had come up with to release the superheated water from the pressure vessel. He was an American limo driver and daredevil who gained the limelight for flying in self-built rockets. Internet Explorer is no longer supported. No chute. Very likely did not survive. The rocket appeared to rub against the launch apparatus, which might have torn the parachutes attached to it, according to Justin. The risks seemed negligible. 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. This, it turned out, was Mike Hughes, who billed himself as the worlds most famous limo driver by virtue of having set a world record for the longest jump in a Lincoln Town Car with the flying qualities of a cinderblock. Mad Mike Hughes net worth: Mad Mike had an estimated net worth of around $650,000 before his death. He died while attempting to his homemade rocket in Amboy, California. 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. He died following his steam-powered rocket crash-landing an open desert in Barstow, California. Despite my misgivings, I was intrigued. 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. He Jiankui discusses his plans for finding cures for devastating genetic diseases. The tension was growing, and so, it seemed to me, was the possibility of a last-minute mistake. His birth name was Michael Hughes. He died on February 22, 2020, while filming a stunt for an upcoming Science Channel television series. Despite making a hard landing in the Mojave Desert, he sustained no serious injuries. There have been other terrible injuries. I didnt care about the steam rocket per se, since it had nothing to do with the space project. Why didnt we turn away? The calculations to launch a payload into space, whether a satellite or a human being, have been well understood ever since 1944, when a Nazi V-2 designed by Wernher von Braun first left Earths atmosphere. 2018 poll found that two percent of more than 10,000 respondents, watched the rocket launch on a livestream, Brian Walshe to Be Charged with Murder of His Missing Wife, Ron Jeremy Found Not Competent to Stand Trial in Serial Rape Case, The Genetic Mutation That Makes Kraken Covid So Contagious, The Boy Just Aint Smart': How Stephen A. Smith Overcame a Learning Disability to Become the Most Passionate Voice in Sports, Andrew Callaghan Apologizes: I've Always Taken No for an Answer as Far as Consent, Fall Out Boy Announce First Album in 5 Years, Share Love From The Other Side Video. Also, their homemade rocket was for a Science Channel series, Homemade Astronauts. Who makes jury-rig fixes at the eleventh hour when somebodys life is on the line? But that project, while far-fetched, had some legitimate merits, whereas this was purely a PR stunt. He wanted to do something original, and he came up with the idea of jumping a limo, Brusseau said. I could run for governor and be a shoo-in. Saturdays launch was to be Hughes highest yet; he was attempting to travel 5,000 feet into the air. He was 64. He had intentions to built multiple rockets that fly into the outer space and take pictures of the entire Earth as a flat disc. On the 3rd of February 2018, Mike began his live-stream, where his rocket steam release malfunction leading the launch aborted. Copyright 2023 Penske Business Media, LLC. Instead, I followed longtime crew member Larry Hayes, who was prowling around behind the launch rail. Chapmans unfortunate footage captures the first parachute disconnecting shortlyafter the rocket began its ascent and then freefalling. However, he hadnt shared any further information regarding his marriage and who is his wife. Coronavirus Is Spreading And So Are the Hoaxes and Conspiracy Theories Around It. [22] The launch event was being filmed for the Science Channel television series Homemade Astronauts, in which Hughes was to star. The mood was upbeat and anticipatory, not unlike the crowd assembled for a rock music festival, but without the weed. Michael passed away of cause of death on month day 1958, at age 5 at death place, Colorado. When the superheated water is released, it passes through a nozzle at the base of the fuselage and turns to steam, producing the thrust necessary to launch the rocket. Thanks for coming all the way out here. Hughes death just reinforced my mantra meaning, what are you willing to do if you believe in something so much? Mark Sargent, a self-described Flat Earth recruiter who was featured in the 2018 Netflix documentary Behind the Curve, tells Rolling Stone. Heres What Hes Doing Next. We usually watch his matches on our DVR, long after theyve been played. Should the scientific community trust him? But he was impressed with the audacity of Mikes vision. At least I enabled 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. Is the US Next? But the crews lack of urgency told a different story. Mike Hughes was born in Barstow, California, in 1955. You're almost done! Waldo cajoled me into writing a brief, lighthearted story about the episode. This story has been shared 114,809 times. But I didnt say anything, just as Id never said anything about the lack of an automatic parachute-deployment system, which seemed like a no-brainer. Periodically, Waldo would call me with updates. Mikes ground control crew radioed him to deploy one of the two backup parachutes installed on the rocket, but Mike never responded. I think thats what hit us then and there: this is completely dangerous. In response to a request for comment, a representative for the Science Channel said, Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends during this difficult time. This was partly out of a sense of self-preservation; at this point, the rocket was effectively a bomb. They didnt, naturally. I wont be able to get out of bed. Nature had given Hughes the heart of a 60-year-old man. It was horrible, he says. The canopies shredded. But none of us are getting out of this world alive. 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. Because it was people like me who imbued his quest with some larger meaning. Eventually, he successfully raised the $7,875 fund from the campaign. Afterward, he reportedly collapsed and needed several days to recover. Apart from this, he gained lots of attention due to his theory and he was trying to prove that Earth is flat and aimed to reach at 62 miles into the air in order to clear Karman Line. His mission was to launch his vessel to a height of 35,000-feet in . Ive heard that some make six figures promoting a flat earth. Likewise Mike Hughes' tragic death. Videos of the launch show that his parachute opened and detached from the rocket almost instantly, dooming Hughes to a high-velocity impact on the desert floor shortly after that. My editor there pitched the piece to his colleagues as a classic WIRED chronicle of DIY obsessives who were attempting something that typically requires tens of millions of dollars, scads of engineers, and endless testing. In the end, he was too brave and tenacious for his own good. Daredevil "Mad Mike" Hughes died during an attempt to launch his homemade rocket Saturday. Water stored in a vessel is heated to reach a predetermined pressure. 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