This man wants to prove the Earth is flat with a homemade rocket. And he's got a new launch date

The last time 'Mad' Mike Hughes (his words, not ours) attempted a rocket launch, it never got off the ground - though it did at least launch him into the limelight.

Now, the 61-year-old limo driver hopes to launch a second rocket emblazoned with 'RESEARCH FLAT EARTH' on 3 February.

His first bid to prove the Earth is flat, and disprove thousands of years' of scientific fact in the process, apparently cost him just $20,000 (£15,000).

But his initial attempt to launch himself 1,800 feet (550 metres) in the air was shut down by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). He had planned to take photos 'proving' the Earth was flat and then eject himself with a parachute, leaving the rocket to crash into Bureau owned land.

This time though, he hopes to pull off a vertical rocket launch so the rocket doesn't land on Bureau property, as he explained in a video.

Last year, he told the Associated Press:

I don't believe in science.

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.

Hughes would have to reach about 35,000 feet (10,700 metres) on a clear day to see the curvature of the Earth, far lower than he said he will rise. However, Hughes says in the video:

I never said this jump or launch was supposed to prove anything with the flat Earth.

It's just supposed to be for publicity.

After the launch, Hughes hopes to raise enough money to fund a rocket that goes high enough to actually see the curvature of the Earth.

More: This is what life would be like if the world was actually flat