Embracing_Thelema.3B_advancing_JATO_and_foundation_of_Aerojet:_1939.E2.80.9342 Jack_Parsons_(rocket_engineer)

aleister crowley (pictured in 1912), founder of thelema, parsons spiritual mentor.

in january 1939 john , frances baxter, brother , sister had befriended jack , helen parsons, took jack church of thelema in winona boulevard, hollywood, witnessed performance of gnostic mass. celebrants of church had included hollywood actor john carradine , gay rights activist harry hay. parsons intrigued, having heard of thelema s founder , outer head of ordo templi orientis (o.t.o.), aleister crowley, after reading copy of crowley s text konx om pax (1907).

parsons introduced leading members regina kahl, jane wolfe, , wilfred talbot smith @ mass. feeling both repulsion , attraction smith, parsons continued sporadically attend church s events year. continued read crowley s works, increasingly interested him, , encouraged helen read them. parsons came believe in reality of thelemic magick force explained through quantum physics. tried interest friends , acquaintances in thelema, taking science fiction writers jack williamson , cleve cartmill performance of gnostic mass. although unimpressed, parsons more successful grady louis mcmurtry, young caltech student had befriended, mcmurtry s fiancée claire palmer, , helen s sister sara betty northrup.

grady mcmurtry recruited o.t.o. parsons.

jack , helen initiated agape lodge, renamed church of thelema, in february 1941. parsons adopted thelemic motto of thelema obtenteum proedero amoris nuptiae, latin mistranslation of establishment of thelema through rituals of love . initials of motto spelled out t.o.p.a.n., serving declaration pan . commenting on parsons errors of translation, in jest crowley said motto mention couched in language beyond powers of understanding . parsons adopted thelemic title frater t.o.p.a.n—with t.o.p.a.n represented in kabbalistic numerology 210—the name signed letters occult associates—while helen became known soror grimaud. smith wrote crowley saying parsons excellent man ... has excellent mind , better intellect myself ... jp going valuable . wolfe wrote german o.t.o. representative karl germer parsons a1 man ... crowleyesque in attainment matter of fact , , mooted parsons potential successor crowley outer head of order. crowley concurred such assessments, informing smith parsons valued member of whole order, no exception!

at von kármán s suggestion, malina approached national academy of sciences (nas) committee on army air corps research request funding research referred jet propulsion , term chosen avoid stigma attached rocketry. military interested in jet propulsion means of getting aircraft airborne there insufficient room full-length runway, , gave rocket research group $1,000 put proposal on feasibility of jet-assisted take off (jato) june 1939, making parsons et al. first u.s. government-sanctioned rocket research group. since formation in 1934, had performed experiments involving model, black powder motor-propelled multistage rockets. in research paper submitted american institute of aeronautics , astronautics (aiaa), parsons reported these rockets reaching velocities of 4,875 miles per hour, thereby demonstrating potential of solid fuels more effective liquid types preferred researchers such goddard. in light of progress, caltech , galcit group received additional $10,000 rocketry research grant aiaa.

although quarter of funding went on repairing damage caltech buildings caused experiments, in june 1940 submitted report nas in showed feasibility of project development of jato , requested $100,000 continue; received $22,000. known galcit project number 1, continued ostracized other caltech scientists grew increasingly irritated accidents , noise pollution, , made relocate experiments arroyo seco, @ site unventilated, corrugated iron sheds served both research facilities , administrative offices. here jpl founded. parsons , forman s rocket experiments cover story of august 1940 edition of popular mechanics, in pair discussed prospect of rockets being able ascend above earth s atmosphere , orbit around research purposes, reaching moon.

the galcit jato engineering team during solid propellant tests in january 1940. parsons visible cropped out on extreme left alongside clark blanchard millikan, martin summerfield, theodore von kármán, frank malina , pilot, captain homer boushey.

for jato project, joined caltech mathematician martin summerfield , 18 workers supplied works progress administration. former colleagues qian prevented returning project federal bureau of investigation (fbi), ensured secrecy of operation , restricted involvement of foreign nationals , political extremists. fbi satisfied parsons not marxist concerned when thelemite friend paul seckler used parsons gun in drunken car hijacking, seckler imprisoned in san quentin state prison 2 years. englishman george emerson replaced arnold group s official photographer.

the group s aim find replacement black-powder rocket motors—units consisting of charcoal, sulfur , potassium nitrate binding agent. mixture unstable , there frequent explosions damaging military aircraft. solid jato fuel invented parsons consisted of amide, corn starch, , ammonium nitrate bound in jato unit glue , blotting paper. codenamed galcit-27, implying previous invention of 26 new fuels. first jato tests using erco ercoupe plane took place in late july 1941; though aided propulsion, units exploded , damaged aircraft. parsons theorized because ammonium nitrate became dangerously combustible following overnight storage, during temperature , consistency changes had resulted in chemical imbalance. parsons , malina accordingly devised method in fill jatos fuel in mornings shortly before tests, enduring sleep deprivation so. on august 21, 1941, navy captain homer j. boushey, jr.—watched clark millikan , william f. durand—piloted jato-equipped ercoupe @ march air force base in moreno valley, california. proved success , reduced takeoff distance 30%, 1 of jatos partially exploded. on following weeks 62 further tests took place, , nas increased grant $125,000. during series of static experiments, exploding jato did significant damage rear fuselage of ercoupe; 1 observer optimistically noted @ least wasn t big hole , necessary repairs delayed efforts.

the military ordered flight test using liquid rather solid fuel in 1942. upon united states entry second world war in december 1941, group realized drafted directly military service if failed provide viable jato technology military. informed left-wing politics, aiding war effort against nazi germany , axis powers of moral vocation parsons, forman , malina practical one. parsons, summerfield , galcit workers focused on task , found success combination of gasoline red fuming nitric acid oxidizer; latter, suggested parsons, effective substitute liquid oxygen. testing of fuel resulted in calamity, when testing rocket motor exploded; fire, containing iron shed fragments , shrapnel, inexplicably left experimenters unscathed. malina solved problem replacing gasoline aniline, resulting in successful test launch of jato-equipped a-20a plane @ muroc auxiliary air field in mojave desert. provided 5 times more thrust galcit-27, , again reduced takeoff distance 30%; malina wrote parents have works , should able give fascists hell!

take-off on august 12, 1941 of america s first rocket-assisted fixed-wing aircraft, erco ercoupe fitted galcit developed solid propellant jato booster



galcit project number 1 during jato experiments (date above). left right: fred s. miller, jack parsons, ed forman, frank malina, captain homer boushey, private kobe (first initial unknown), , corporal r. hamilton.

the group agreed produce , sell 60 jato engines united states army air corps. formed aerojet engineering corporation in march 1942, in parsons, forman, malina, von kármán, , summerfield each invested $250, opening offices on colorado boulevard , bringing in amo smith engineer. andrew g. haley recruited von kármán lawyer , treasurer. although aerojet for-profit operation provided technology military means, founders mentality rooted in ideal of using rockets peaceful space exploration. haley recounted von kármán requesting: make rockets—you must make corporation , obtain money. later on have see behave in outer space.

despite these successes, parsons, project engineer of aerojet s solid fuel department, remained motivated address malfunctions observed during ercoupe tests. in june 1942, assisted mills , miller, focused attention on developing effective method of restricted burning when using solid rocket fuel, military demanded jatos provide on 100 pounds of thrust without risk of exploding. although solid fuels such galcit-27 more storable liquid counterparts, disfavored military jato use provided less immediate thrust , did not have versatility of being turned on , off mid-flight. parsons tried resolve galcit-27 s stability issue galcit-46, replaced former s ammonium nitrate guanidine nitrate. avoid problems seen ammonium nitrate, had galcit-46 cooled , heated prior testing. when failed test, realized fuel s binding black powders rather oxidizers had resulted in instability, , in june year had idea of using liquid asphalt appropriate binding agent potassium perchlorate oxidizer.

malina recounted parsons inspired use asphalt ancient incendiary weapon greek fire; in 1982 talk international association of astronomical artists captain boushey stated parsons experienced epiphany after watching workers using molten asphalt fix tiles onto roof. known galcit-53, fuel proved more stable group s earlier concoctions, fulfilling parsons aim of creating restricted-burn rocket fuel inside castable container, , providing thrust 427% more powerful of galcit-27. set precedent according biographer john carter changed future of rocket technology : thermoplastic asphalt casting durable in climates, allowing mass production , indefinite storage , transforming solid-fuel agents safe , viable form of rocket propulsion. plasticized variants of parsons solid-fuel design invented jpl s charles bartley later used nasa in space shuttle solid rocket boosters , strategic air command in polaris, poseidon , minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles.