Flat-earther forgets to attach parachute to rocket - dies.

Especially when you can point at the moon and say look! Duh!

 

In the old days, the idiots would be isolated in their stupidity. Maybe they listened to Art Bell and got some confirmation or read about it in Weekly World News (RIP Bat Boy!). But now they get on the Internet, find thousands of other idiots and get their crazy reinforced.

 

I think you just described SJ.

 

Or maybe - I don't know - this whole flat earth thing was a gimmick to drum up publicity?

A free media is essential to our society, We're also pretty cheap sometimes. If he'd announced that he believed in unicorns too, he could've gotten a movie deal out of it.

 

Internet is the best and worst invention of the last 50 years. I can buy things and communicate with people another continent away with just a couple of clicks on a smart phone. I was explaining to my girlfriend's kids once that, when I ordered a beloved Starter jacket back in the 1980s, my mom mailed in a check with an order form I filled out by hand, then waited FOUR TO SIX WEEKS FOR DELIVERY. Every day was like Ralphie coming home looking for the Little Orphan Annie pin. Oh, and if your team wasn't popular enough there's a good chance it's just not for sale. Now, you go on Fanatics, everything's available and that shit's here in two days.

Conversely, you can find bullshit data backing up any of your stupid beliefs on it as well. Crunchy weirdos not wanting vaccinate their kids? Yup, there are sites for it. NAMBLA? Probably, but I'll be damned if I'm looking. Racism? Damn right there are. It's given everyone the opportunity to hunker down into their own agendas and stay there.

 

What does THAT prove? It's just a flat disk. Like a nickel.

 

Good news on the pilot: FATUS says it's just a headache.

 

Which poses a question: Assuming you live the exact amount of time either way, would you rather be killed instantly in some sort of incident, or die of natural causes?

 

Any particulars known on why the parachute malfunctioned?

 

Nelson Rockefeller.

 

Probably the shock / G forces of launch caused it to deploy.

Then the thing got caught in the exhaust plume and ballooned out. That probably caused enough of an sudden drag force to rip it off from its attachment points.

The rest is ballistic history.

 

I read that he attached a ladder just recently that the mechanism got caught on during launch. It hooked the parachute and made the rocket wobble during takeoff.