The Disappearing Spoon: a science history podcast with Sam Kean The Sex-Cult “Antichrist” Who Rocketed Us to Space (part 1)
Mar 12, 2024
Guest Jack Parsons, a devil-worshiping FBI rat and rocket scientist, led a sex cult with L. Ron Hubbard. Podcast explores his childhood, rocket experiments, and involvement in JPL. It delves into his interest in the occult, charismatic cult leader persona, and tragic turn of events.
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Self-Taught Rocketeer In The Backyard
- Jack Parsons taught himself chemistry and started launching backyard rockets with friend Edward Forman using fireworks and homemade fixes.
- He stabilized gunpowder by coating it with glue, an early trick that presaged later rocket-fuel advances.
Practical Obsession Beats Credentials
- Parsons mixed showmanship and secrecy to attract resources, even scripting a movie to fund research when grants were scarce.
- He prioritized practical experiments over credentials, which later won JPL crucial early funding.
Halloween Motor Failure To Caltech Breakthrough
- Parsons experimented with both solid and liquid rocket fuels, including a liquid oxygen and methanol motor that initially backfired spectacularly.
- By January 1937 their liquid engines produced impressive thrust, leading to Caltech lab space and the founding of JPL.