
Flat-Earther Set to Launch Himself in Own Rocket - colinprince
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/11/22/565926690/i-dont-believe-in-science-says-flat-earther-set-to-launch-himself-in-own-rocket
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asynchronous13
> Still, Hughes converted to the flat-Earth belief recently, shortly after his
> first fundraising campaign for the rocket earned just $310 of its $150,000
> goal. His second campaign, this time posted after his conversion and with
> the support of the flat-Earth community, succeeded in hitting its $7,875
> goal.

He wants to build a rocket, and he'll say what it takes to get money to build
a rocket.

~~~
alkonaut
Exactly. If you want to take peoples money what better group to pick than a
group of fools?

~~~
vim_wannabe
It's not them funding it, if they even exist. The "flat-earther" part is just
for the media exposure, which seems to work great.

If you are willing to launch yourself in a home made rocket the Internet will
fund, as long as they can find you.

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cyberferret
I literally stopped reading at:

    
    
        "I don't believe in science," Hughes added. 
        "I know about aerodynamics and fluid dynamics and how things move through the air, 
        about the certain size of rocket nozzles, and thrust. 
        But that's not science, that's just a formula. 
        There's no difference between science and science fiction."

~~~
Stratoscope
Mobile friendly quote:

> "I don't believe in science," Hughes added. "I know about aerodynamics and
> fluid dynamics and how things move through the air, about the certain size
> of rocket nozzles, and thrust. But that's not science, that's just a
> formula. There's no difference between science and science fiction."

Tip: don't use leading spaces to quote things on HN. Instead, use either:

    
    
      > The text.
    

or:

    
    
      > *The text.*
    

depending on whether you want italics or not. (Italics can be helpful if you
are interspersing quotes with other comments of your own; probably not needed
for a simple quote like this.)

We're pretty limited in formatting options here, so those are about the best
you can do.

~~~
stock_toaster
I /really/ wish HN understood markdown blockquote format syntax.

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akira2501
These people. You can get a MiG-29 to take you to the edge of space, so you
can see the curve of the earth with your own eyes, for around €20,000.

~~~
ivanhoe
Or just go to the seaside and watch a boat sailing away over the horizon...
but that wouldn't put him in the spotlight, and this is obviously just another
media attention seeking stunt...

~~~
jschwartzi
NB: This is actually how people in the middle ages knew the earth wasn't flat.
They could watch ships drop down over the horizon from the harbor.

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userbinator
Part of me wonders whether this is some _very_ clever guerrilla marketing
campaign for a new game or something like that.

~~~
tspiteri
Nah, he just wants to finish his project, and the one way he has found to fund
it is to become a flat-earther and get their money.

------
11thEarlOfMar
The story that just won't die...

It's been posted 10 times in the last 3 days, getting votes most times,
flagged other times.[0]

Curious what the record is for the most-submitted story submitted.

[0]
[https://hn.algolia.com/?query=flat%20earth&sort=byPopularity...](https://hn.algolia.com/?query=flat%20earth&sort=byPopularity&prefix&page=0&dateRange=pastWeek&type=story)

~~~
trobertson
At this point, I'm almost certain that there's vote manipulation going on. I
hope dang et al. can take a look into it.

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nobleach
Most airliners fly at 35,000 feet. Couldn't he just raise 400 dollars and buy
a plane ticket?

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utopkara
Why does he have to be in the rocket? He doesn’t believe in cameras either?

~~~
lithos
Likely anything built by someone else has a filter in it to adjust the lens
when it gets to the right height. This isn't about logic after all.

------
pushedx
I've had a suspicion for a while that "Flat Earthers" are trolling everyone
into giving them a free ride into space.

------
detaro
bunch of previous discussions:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15751398](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15751398)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15760481](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15760481)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15764574](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15764574)

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nickhalfasleep
I would cost, what, $400 or so to charter a boat from Los Angeles Harbor to
just head due west? The way the insanity compounds on itself is spectacular.

~~~
jeremyt
They claim the edge of the world is at the south pole.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsOz_J6tJVU&t=1332s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsOz_J6tJVU&t=1332s)

------
dreamcompiler
I predict his journey will be Darwinian.

