Daredevil ‘Mad’ Mike Hughes has died after launching himself into the air on a homemade rocket that later crash landed.
Footage of the incident shows Hughes, 64, propelling himself into the air on the steam-powered rocket on Saturday, near Barstow, California, before it crashed.
The incident may have been filmed for a new TV show, Homemade Astronauts, which is set to launch on the Discovery Chanel in 2020, according to TMZ.
In footage of the tragic accident the rocket can be seen launching high into the air.
After several seconds it is seen falling back down to the ground as shrieks from horrified spectators are heard in the background before it crashes.
WARNING: DISTRESSING FOOTAGE
Daredevil ‘Mad’ Mike Hughes has died after launching himself into the air on a homemade rocket that later crash landed. He’s pictured next to a rocket in November 2017
Footage of the incident shows Hughes propelling himself into the air near Barstow, California, on Saturday
Hughes was reportedly attempting to get as close to space from Earth as possible – about 62 miles above Earth’s surface
Hughes crash landed shortly after take-off. The incident was reportedly being filmed for a new TV show on the Discovery Channel
Although a parachute is seen to release from the rocket as it ascends before the crash, it appears to be unmanned and Hughes is presumed to have still been inside the rocket as it plummets.
Hughes , from California, was at the site on Saturday with his partner Waldo Stakes where he was attempting to reach 5,000 feet in the air while on the rocket.
Hughes and Stakes were working on getting as close to space above Earth’s surface, about 62 miles without the use of advanced tech, according to Space.com.
A picture of the rocket was posted on his website on Wednesday, three days before the doomed launch
Hughes and Stakes were one of three teams that working to get as close to ‘the Karman line’, which is often thought of as the beginning of space.’
Hughes’ former representative Darren Shuster described Hughes as ‘one-of-a-kind’.
‘When God made Mike he broke the mold. The man was the real deal and lived to push the edge. He wouldn’t have gone out any other way. RIP,’ he said.
A picture of the rocket was posted on his website on Wednesday, three days before the doomed launch.
He also posted a video for a ‘Rocketman’ documentary about his bid to prove the earth is flat.
Hughes was a daredevil and conspiracy theorist who believed the earth was flat and hope to launch himself into space to prove it.
Hughes’ website posted a video for a ‘Rocketman’ documentary about his bid to prove the earth is flat
Hughes had to be taken away in a stretcher after he crash landed in another rocket launch attempt in March 2018
Hughes’ former representative Darren Shuster described him as ‘one-of-a-kind’. ‘When God made Mike he broke the mold,’ he said.
In an accident in March 2018 he faced a near-fatal catastrophe when he attempted to propel himself into the air in a rocket made using mostly spare parts.
The engineer launched himself 1,875 feet into the sky but his descent but it began to plunge at a speed of 350 mph.
He was forced to deploy his parachute to slow down at 1,875 feet but crash landed in the Mojave Desert, just east of Los Angeles
Hughes said afterward, ‘Am I glad I did it? Yeah, I guess. I’ll feel it in the morning. I won’t be able to get out of bed. At least I can go home and have dinner and see my cats tonight.’
In 2002 he set a Guinness World Record with a 103-foot jump in a Lincoln Town Car stretch limo.
He is said to have built his first manned rocket on January 30 in 2014, when he flew 1,374 feet.