The daredevil "Mad" Mike Hughes was killed in a rocket launch gone wrong Saturday in Barstow, Calif., two witnesses to the accident confirmed.
超大胆的“疯狂”麦克·休斯在加利福尼亚州巴斯托市周六的一次火箭发射事故中丧生，事故的两名目击证人确认了这一消息。
He was 64.
时年64岁。
It was the third launch for Hughes in one of his homemade rockets and part of his eventual plan to be able to determine for himself, up in the sky, if the Earth was as flat as he proclaimed to believe.
这是休斯自制火箭的第三次发射了，他最终的目标是要自己到空中去看一看，地球是否像他想的那样扁平。
A steel ladder was attached to the rocket's launch ramp to make it easier for Hughes to enter the rocket's cockpit.
有一家不锈钢的梯子放在火箭发射台的旁边，便于休斯进入火箭的舱体。
But when the rocket launched, it ended up hitting the ladder and setting the launch on course for disaster.
但当发射开始后，竟然撞上了这架梯子，最后演变成了一场灾难。
"It ripped off a parachute can, which deployed the parachute, which got caught in the thrust of the rocket and kind of took the rocket off course a little bit," said Justin Chapman, a freelance journalist who was at the launch site.
“这叫梯子撞开了降落伞罐，打开了降落伞，后来卷入了火箭的推进器，使火箭偏离了轨道，贾斯汀·查普曼说道，他是当时位于发射点的一名自由记者。
The steam-powered rocket wobbled and did a huge arc before crashing less than a minute later.
这枚由蒸汽推动的火箭开始摇晃，画出了一个巨大的弧形，一分钟后坠毁了。
"He went way up in the sky," Chapman said.
“他升到了很高的空中，”查普曼说道。
"I'm not sure how high. But his goal was 5,000 feet. Then it did an arc and then came straight down and nose-dived into the desert floor about half a mile away from the launch pad."
“我不清楚有多高，但他的目标是5000英尺，后来火箭画出弧形后，开始垂直下降，最后头朝下地栽进了距离发射场半英里远的沙漠地带。”
Hughes previously launched in March 2018, when he soared roughly 1,875 feet in the air in the Mojave Desert before parachutes deployed and guided the rocket back to the ground.
休斯曾在2018年3月进行过一次发射，当时他到达了1875英尺的莫扎维沙漠上的高空，然后降落伞打开带着火箭重返地面。
He emerged relatively unscathed at the time, telling The Associated Press he had pain in his back, but was glad to not have "chickened out."
他当时几乎安然无恙地返回了，并告诉美联社记者感觉背有点疼，但还是很开心，自己没有退缩。
Hughes also launched in Winkelman, Ariz., in 2014, traveling 1,374 feet, according to the AP.
据美联社报道，休斯在2014年时，也曾在艾瑞兹的温克曼进行过发射，到达了1374英尺。
Previous to taking up rocketry, Hughes was a stuntman who jumped limousines.
在研发火箭之前，休斯曾经是一名电影中跳车的特技替身演员。
He holds the record for the longest limousine ramp jump, according to Guinness World Records.
据世界吉尼斯纪录，他保持着世界上最长的轿车坡道跳跃记录。
Chapman says that Hughes "fully understood the risks" of his rocket launches.
查普曼说休斯完全知道这次火箭发射的风险。
"He knew very well, he said very often, that this thing could kill you, he was very well aware of that. He was a daredevil and he was driven by this compulsion to do extraordinary things and inspire people, as he put it."
“他非常清楚，他经常说，这件事可能会让你丧生，他完全知道这件事。他是一名超胆英雄，正如他自己说的那样，有着成就卓越和激励他人的信念。”
问题
文中提到休斯之前的工作是什么？
留言回复正确答案，前10名朋友可以获得红包奖励哦，赶快来试试吧。
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