The Flat Earth Imbecile

[lpetrich]

Balloon with GoPro to Near Space - YouTube - this is one of oodles of similar videos that one can find online.

Mad Mike was not rationally interested in the subject. No one who is rationally interested builds a steam powered rocket, then gets in the fucking thing, then blasts it off from the back of his truck, all the while doing so when information is readily available.

He wanted to observe for himself what our planet's horizon looks like when above the clutter of nearby objects.

What I linked to is the result of a way of making those observations: send a video camera into the upper atmosphere with a balloon. It's not very expensive, and it's cheaper and easier than building one's own steam-powered rocket. It's also a heck of a lot safer.

A steam-powered rocket is not as absurd as some people here seem to think it is. It's a tank that one fills with steam with a valve and a nozzle at one end. Open the valve, the steam comes out, and it pushes the tank forward. It won't get much exhaust velocity compared to an orbital-booster rocket, but it will work, and it will be much easier to build.

 

[Gun Nut]

I don't believe in Mad Mike. There never existed such a person. These videos are all fake and the so-called "family" and "friends" are just hired actors.

 

[bilby]