A California man intends to launch himself 1,800 feet high on Saturday in a home-built rocket to prove that astronauts faked the shape of the Earth.
Mike Hughes, a 61-year-old limo driver, said his stunt will be the first phase of the flat-Earth space program, sponsored by Research Flat Earth, a group that believes Earth is, well, flat.
The rocket should travel about a mile at a speed of roughly 500 mph.
“If you’re not scared to death, you’re an idiot,” Hughes said. “It’s scary as hell, but none of us are getting out of this world alive. I like to do extraordinary things that no one else can do, and no one in the history of mankind has designed, built and launched himself in his own rocket.”
He claims to have built the steam-powered rocket out of scrap metal parts in his garage. The project cost around $20,000, including the purchase of a motor home off Craigslist that was converted into a ramp.
The daredevil’s aim is to get miles above Earth and snap a photo, proving that astronauts conspired to fabricate the shape of the planet.
