Flat-Earther's Second Rocket Launch Attempt Sputters Out

The internet's favorite flat Earther is having trouble getting his rocket up—again. "Mad" Mike Hughes first hijacked headlines in November by announcing his plan to launch himself in a homemade rocket to prove that the Earth is flat. He rescheduled his stunt to this Saturday, but the rocket never took off.

It turns out that unlike things that aren't exactly rocket science, actually launching a rocket can be, well, challenging. In a video statement filmed right after the launch was scrapped, Hughes says there was a problem with an actuator that prevented the rocket from igniting. "I hate to disappoint everybody," Hughes added. "I'm ready."

He added that in order to address what he believes might be causing the problem, someone would need to climb under the rocket, and that the process could be extremely dangerous if that happened immediately after the failed launch. "This ain't no joke, this thing's got about 10 different ways to kill you, ok?," Hughes said. "This is why Evil Kenevil didn't do it twice, it scared the hell out of him. And he didn't go half what I did the first time."

That's a reference to a 2014 trip that launched Hughes 1,374 feet into the air. Since then, he has become a flat Earth proponent, and the new rocket was supported by a group called Research Flat Earth. "I'm sorry to disappoint everyone, I did the best I can do," Hughes said. "I manned up, I got in it."

Read more: We Asked Two Flat Earthers: What About the Other Planets?

"I don't know how much more I can man up, okay?," Hughes said about his failure. Hughes said he would have liked to try again, but might not be able to because of needing to prepare for court appearances on Tuesday. He is suing a host of California government officials, saying "I'm gonna have them in prison by the end of the year."

Also on Tuesday, another rocket man fawned over by the internet, Elon Musk, will be launching his car on the first flight of the Falcon Heavy. If the launch is successful, it will become the most powerful rocket in use today. Musk himself admits there's a decent chance his launch, too, will fail, and has said he will be pleased as long as the attempt doesn't end up damaging the historic launch pad the company is using.