This 61-year-old self-taught 'rocket scientist' named "Mad" Mike Hughes built the rocket himself in his garage. The launch happened in the Mojave desert east of LA, in the tiny town of Amboy, just east of the Twenty-nine Palms Marine Corps Training Area.
https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2018/03/25/...521995668/
Totally low-budget, one man's labor of love. NASA (or even SpaceX) this is not.
The rocket didn't even make it to 2,000 feet and his little capsule descended under a parachute. Our intrepid rocketman emerged bruised but otherwise ok.
The vehicle appears to have been powered by steam, with a valve to release the pressure in a rocket-like blast. Basically it looks like one of the Mythbusters' waterheater-rockets with fins, more controllable (it doesn't just launch explosively whenever the pressure vessel fails) and with a guy riding it.
A video is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_conti...UAHORcbvvQ
Why did he do it? He says to prove that the Earth is flat! (Why else would anyone launch a rocket? Well, Elon?) He certainly seems like he's one of those peculiar 'eccentrics' that seem to be strangely common out in the desert for some reason. (The kind of people who report being abducted by UFO aliens. I bet Mulder and Scully were watching.)
I have to say I love it.
https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2018/03/25/...521995668/
Totally low-budget, one man's labor of love. NASA (or even SpaceX) this is not.
The rocket didn't even make it to 2,000 feet and his little capsule descended under a parachute. Our intrepid rocketman emerged bruised but otherwise ok.
The vehicle appears to have been powered by steam, with a valve to release the pressure in a rocket-like blast. Basically it looks like one of the Mythbusters' waterheater-rockets with fins, more controllable (it doesn't just launch explosively whenever the pressure vessel fails) and with a guy riding it.
A video is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_conti...UAHORcbvvQ
Why did he do it? He says to prove that the Earth is flat! (Why else would anyone launch a rocket? Well, Elon?) He certainly seems like he's one of those peculiar 'eccentrics' that seem to be strangely common out in the desert for some reason. (The kind of people who report being abducted by UFO aliens. I bet Mulder and Scully were watching.)
I have to say I love it.