In the season finale of Something True, we crack the seal on Jack Parsons—a legendary rocket scientist, drummed out of the profession for his overbearing interest in the occult magick of Aleister Crowley. Parsons devoted his early retirement to a full-throated study of the arcane arts. His ambitions were nothing less than to coax an ancient, beautiful goddess from her primal dimension into the spare bedroom of his Pasadena bungalow. Everything proceeded to plan, until Parsons made a famous friend who would not only change his life, but the world... and all the worlds beyond. Read a full transcript of this episode on the Something True website. Follow Something true on Twitter @atruepodcast. (Or just follow Duncan and Alex.) Music on this week’s episode: Anamorphic Orchestra – Stop the Clocks Pictures of the Floating World – Ash Gray* David Szesztay – Cheese Cory Gray – Medieval Tension 60s* Pictures of the Floating World – Cold* Paniks – Clavire Pictures of the Floating World – A Thousand Stars* *modified for the podcast.
Jack Parsons was only 31 when he was pushed out of his own company.
In 1942, hed founded Aerojet with a few colleagues to produce and sell the rocket technology they had spent the last ten years inventing and perfecting.
Aerojets flagship product was the jet assisted takeoff engine, a small rocket that helped large or overloaded aircraft to achieve flight.
The primary client for these engines was the United States military, who then used their purchasing power to coax Aerojet into the lucrative business of ballistic missile production.
World War Two was good for Aerojet and for Parsons, whose military value as a rocket scientist helped him to avoid direct combat.
But as the war ended, so did the demand for missiles, and Aerojet needed money.
The general tire and rubber company of Akron, Ohio, agreed to buy a 51% stake in Aerojet on one lose.
Jack Parsons.
He was one of the best rocket scientists of his time, who had figured out how to safely mass produce rocket fuel.
He was respected back then and respected today.
Theres a crater on the moon named after him.
So, in 1945, what was the problem with Jack Parsons?
Well, for one thing, he wasnt a good fit for a corporate environment.
He was young, brash.
He looked like he might star in movies about a sexy rocket scientist that he wrote himself.
Hed been expelled from boarding school for blowing up toilets, which began his lifelong obsession for blowing things up cut tragically short in 1952 when he blew himself up.
He had unusual and uncouth sexual habits, a steady intake of hard drugs, and was a draught dodging socialist.
In a time of war and fevered patriotism, Jack Parsons was no angel.
But in his personal time, he was trying to summon one.
That was the problem.