Daredevil ‘Mad’ Mike Hughes dies in homemade rocket launch
USA Daredevil ‘Mad’ Mike Hughes died Saturday when a homemade rocket he was attached to launched but quickly dove to earth in the California desert.
The stunt was apparently part of a forthcoming television show, “Homemade Astronauts,” that was scheduled to debut later this year on Discovery Inc.’s Science Channel.
Discovery confirmed the 64yearold’s death in a statement.
“It was always his dream to do this launch, and Science Channel was there to chronicle his journey,” the company said.
The mishap was reported at 1:52 p.m. on private property in the Barstow area, San Bernardino County SheriffCoroner spokeswoman Cindy Bachman said by email. She did not identify Hughes.
“A man was pronounced deceased after the rocket crashed in the open desert during a rocket launch event,” she said. Sheriff’s aviation investigators were looking into the accident.
In a statement last year, Discovery, Inc. described the forthcoming show as a look at “three selffinanced teams with skyhigh dreams, in their cosmic quest to explore the final frontier on shoestring budgets.”
Hughes’ stunt Saturday was billed as part of a plan to raise money for another project, a planned launch to the border of space on a vehicle described as part rocket, part balloon, Discovery said.
The moneyraising launch had a goal of reaching 5,000 feet into the sky aboard a “steampowered rocket,” the broadcaster said.
Hughes is known both for his homemade rockets and for his belief the earth is flat.
His desire to prove the planet is “shaped like a Frisbee” inspired his vertical endeavors, he has said. But Saturday’s launch did not appear to be directly tied to Hughes’ flatearth argument. In 2018, he successfully launched himself about 1,875 feet into the sky above the Mojave desert via a garagemade rocket.
His landing that year was softened when he deployed a parachute. In social media video of Saturday’s accident, a parachutelike swath of fabric can be seen flying away from the rocket shortly after blast-off.
“This thing wants to kill you 10 different ways,” Hughes said in 2018. “This thing will kill you in a heartbeat.”
(NBC News)