WASHINGTON – He finally went up – just like the self-taught rocketscientist always pledged he would.

He came back down in one piece, too – a little dinged up and hissteam-powered vessel a little cracked up.

Still, mission accomplished for a guy more daredevil than engineer, whodrew more comparisons to the cartoon character Wile E. Coyote from hiscritics than he did to iconic stunt man Evel Knievel.

“Mad” Mike Hughes, the rocket man who believes the Earth is flat, propelledhimself about 1,875 feet into the air Saturday before a hard landing in theMojave Desert. He told The Associated Press that outside of an aching backhe’s fine after the launch near Amboy, California.

“Relieved,” he said after being checked out by paramedics. “I’m tired ofpeople saying I chickened out and didn’t build a rocket. I’m tired of thatstuff. I manned up and did it.”

The launch in the desert town – about 200 miles (321.85 kilometers) east ofLos Angeles – was originally scheduled in November. It was scrubbed severaltimes due to logistical issues with the Bureau of Land Management andmechanical problems that kept popping up.

The 61-year-old limo driver converted a mobile home into a ramp andmodified it to launch from a vertical angle so he wouldn’t fall back to theground on public land. For months he’s been working on overhauling hisrocket in his garage. -Agencies