John Whiteside Parsons
| Jack Parsons | |
|---|---|
Parsons in 1941.
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| Born |
Marvel Whiteside Parsons October 2, 1914 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Died | June 17, 1952 (aged 37) Pasadena, California, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Accidental explosion |
| Resting place | Mojave Desert |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | John Whiteside Parsons |
| Alma mater |
Pasadena Junior College Stanford University University of Southern California (no degrees) |
| Occupation | Rocket engineer, businessman, occultist |
| Organization |
Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology Aerojet Engineering Corporation North American Aviation Hughes Aircraft Company |
| Spouse(s) | Helen Parsons-Smith (née Northrup) (1935–46; divorced) Marjorie Cameron (1946–52; his death) |
John Whiteside "Jack" Parsons (born Marvel Whiteside Parsons; October 2, 1914 – June 17, 1952) was an American rocket engineer and rocket propulsion researcher, chemist, and Thelemite occultist. Associated with the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Parsons was one of the principal founders of both the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the Aerojet Engineering Corporation. He invented the first rocket engine to use a castable, composite rocket propellant, and pioneered the advancement of both liquid-fuel and solid-fuel rockets.
Born in Los Angeles, Parsons was raised by a wealthy family on Orange Grove Avenue in Pasadena. Inspired by science fiction literature, he developed an interest in rocketry in his childhood and in 1928 began amateur rocket experiments with school friend Ed Forman. He dropped out of Pasadena Junior College and Stanford University due to financial difficulties during the Great Depression, and in 1934 he united with Forman and graduate student Frank Malina to form the Caltech-affiliated Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory (GALCIT) Rocket Research Group, supported by Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory chairman Theodore von Kármán. In 1939 the GALCIT Group gained funding from the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to work on Jet-Assisted Take Off (JATO) for the U.S. military. Following American entry into World War II, in 1942 they founded Aerojet to develop and sell their JATO technology; the GALCIT Group became JPL in 1943.
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