Editing Jet Propulsion Laboratory (section)

=== Rocketry beginnings ===
In the early years of the project, work was primarily focused on the development of rocket technology. In 1941, Malina, Parsons, Forman, [[Martin Summerfield]], and pilot Homer Bushey demonstrated the first jet-assisted takeoff ([[JATO]]) rockets to the Army. In 1943, von Kármán, Malina, Parsons, and Forman established the [[Aerojet]] Corporation to manufacture JATO rockets. The project took on the name Jet Propulsion Laboratory in November 1943, formally becoming an Army facility operated under contract by the university.<ref>{{cite web |title=Early Years |url=http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/jplhistory/early/settingstakes.php |publisher=JPL |access-date=2010-08-18 |archive-date=2015-06-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150607172134/http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/jplhistory/early/settingstakes.php |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Koppes">{{cite journal |first=Clayton |last=Koppes |title=JPL and the American Space Program |location=New Haven |publisher=Yale University Press |journal=The American Historical Review |volume=89 |issue=2 |date=1 April 1982}}</ref><ref name="Conway">{{cite web |first=Erik M. |last=Conway |title=From Rockets to Spacecraft: Making JPL a Place for Planetary Science |website=Engineering and Science |volume=30 |issue=4 |pages=2–10 |url=http://pr.caltech.edu/periodicals/EandS/ESarchive-frame.html |access-date=2009-01-12 |archive-date=2011-01-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110107010604/http://pr.caltech.edu/periodicals/EandS/ESarchive-frame.html |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="High Frontier">{{cite book |last=Launius |first=Roger |title=To Reach High Frontier, A History of U.S. Launch Vehicles |date=2002 |publisher=University of Kentucky |isbn=978-0-813-12245-8 |pages=39–42}}</ref> In the same year, Qian and two of his colleagues drafted the first document to use the name Jet Propulsion Laboratory.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/universe/archive/un0911.pdf |title=Archived copy |website=Jet Propulsion Laboratory |access-date=February 25, 2024 |archive-date=April 6, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240406064002/https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/universe/archive/un0911.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Von Karman and JATO Team - GPN-2000-001652 (cropped).jpg|left|thumb|250x250px|[[Theodore von Kármán]] sketching out a plan on the wing of an airplane. From left to right: [[Clark Blanchard Millikan|Clark B. Millikan]], [[Martin Summerfield]], von Kármán, Frank J. Malina and pilot, Capt. Homer Boushey.]]
In a NASA conference on the history of early rocketry, Malina wrote that the work of the JPL was "considered to include" the research carried out by the GALCIT Rocket Research Group from 1936 on.<ref name="Malina-1969">{{cite conference |last=Malina |first=F. J. |date=1969 <!--typewritten manuscript, 32 pages; series=JPL History collection; oclc=733101419 --> |publication-date=September 1977 |authorlink=Frank Malina |title=The U.S. Army Air Corps Jet Propulsion Research Project, GALCIT Project No. 1, 1939–1946: A Memoir. |conference=Essays on the History of rocketry and astronautics: proceedings of the third through the sixth Symposia of the International Academy of Astronautics |editor1-last=Hall |editor1-first=R. Cargill |volume=2 Part III The Development of Liquid- and Solid-propellant Rockets, 1880–1945 |publisher=NASA Scientific and Technical Information Office |location=Washington, D.C. |series=NASA conference publication, 2014 |id=CP 2014 |oclc=5354560 |page=153 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PSSwnl3_OA8C&pg=PA153 |access-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727190601/https://books.google.com/books?id=PSSwnl3_OA8C&pg=PA153 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1944, Parsons was expelled due to his "unorthodox and unsafe working methods" following one of several FBI investigations into his involvement with the occult, drugs and sexual promiscuity.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.co.uk/article/jpl-jack-parsons |title=Occultist father of rocketry 'written out' of Nasa's history |last=Solon |first=Olivia |date=April 23, 2014 |magazine=Wired UK |publisher=Condé Nast |access-date=6 October 2019 |archive-date=October 7, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191007022927/https://www.wired.co.uk/article/jpl-jack-parsons |url-status=live }}</ref>

During JPL's Army years, the laboratory developed two significant deployed weapon systems, the [[MGM-5 Corporal]] and [[MGM-29 Sergeant]] tactical ballistic missiles, marking the first US ballistic missiles developed at JPL.<ref>{{cite conference |author=Keymeulen, Didier |display-authors=4 |author2=Myers, John |author3=Newton, Jason |author4=Csaszar, Ambrus |author5=Gan, Quan |author6=Hidalgo, Tim |author7=Moore, Jeff |author8=Sandoval, Steven |author9=Xu, Jiajing | author10=Schon, Aaron |author11=Assad, Chris |author12=Stoica, Adrian |title=Humanoids for Lunar and Planetary Surface Operations |hdl=2014/39699 |location=Pasadena, CA |work=Jet Propulsion Laboratory, National Aeronautics and Space Administration |date=2006 |publisher=JPL TRS 1992+}}</ref> It also developed several other weapons system prototypes, such as the Loki anti-aircraft missile system, and the forerunner of the [[Aerobee]] sounding rocket. At various times, it carried out rocket testing at the [[White Sands Missile Range|White Sands Proving Ground]], [[Edwards Air Force Base]], and [[Goldstone, California]].<ref name="High Frontier" />