The daredevil didn't have the advantage of extensive safety measures and tests, then, and had defied the odds by emerging from past landings with relatively minor injuries. He partly relied on crowdfunding from fellow Flat Earth devotees over the years. Hughes had a tight budget, though, having spent about $18,000 on the rocket. It's not clear at this stage why the rocket failed. His first rocket launch in 2014 took him to 1,374 feet, but successive launches didn't travel much higher. Hughes, 64, wanted to prove the Flat Earth theory by taking phot. Hughes' goal had been to verify his belief in a disc-shaped Earth by flying to space, with successive launches taking him higher and higher in altitude. Daredevil and Flat Earth theorist Michael 'Mad Mike' Hughes died Saturday in a rocket crash.

The launch was being filmed for a Science Channel series, Homemade Astronauts, that aims to document the adventures of amateur rocket makers. The Flat Earth advocate died on February 22nd at the age of 64 when the chute for his steam-powered rocket detached shortly after launch, leading to a high-velocity crash in the desert near Barstow, California. The saga of 'Mad' Mike Hughes and his homebuilt rocket has come to a tragic end.

Flat earther rocket