Editing Jack Parsons (section)

===Foundation of JPL and leading the Agape Lodge: 1942–1944===
[[File:JATO unit.jpg|thumbnail|right|Solid-fuel [[JATO]] unit manufactured by [[Aerojet]] at the [[National Air and Space Museum]]]]
Aerojet's first two contracts were from the U.S. Navy; the [[Bureau of Aeronautics]] requested a solid-fuel JATO and [[Wilbur Wright Field]] requested a liquid-fuel unit. The Air Corps had requested two thousand JATOs from Aerojet by late 1943, committing $256,000 toward Parsons' solid-fuel type. Despite this drastically increased turnover, the company continued to operate informally and remained intertwined with the GALCIT project. Caltech astronomer [[Fritz Zwicky]] was brought in as head of the company's research department. Haley replaced von Kármán as Aerojet chairman and imposed payroll cuts instead of reducing JATO output; the alternative was to cut staff numbers while maintaining more generous salaries, but Haley's priority was Aerojet's contribution to the war effort. Company heads including Parsons were exempted from this austerity, drawing the ire of many personnel.{{sfnm|1a1 = Carter|1y = 2004|1pp = 73–76|2a1 = Pendle|2y = 2005|2pp = 191–192}}{{sfnm|1a1 = Carter|1y = 2004|1p = 76|2a1 = Pendle|2y = 2005|2pp = 223–226}}

Parsons' newfound credentials and financial security gave him the opportunity to travel more widely throughout the U.S. as an ambassador for Aerojet, meeting with other rocket enthusiasts. In New York he met with Karl Germer, the head of O.T.O. in North America and in [[Washington, D.C.]] he met Poet Laureate [[Joseph Auslander]], donating some of Crowley's poetry books to the [[Library of Congress]].{{sfn|Pendle|2005|pp = 198, 203}} He also became a regular at the [[Mañana Literary Society]], which met in [[Laurel Canyon]] at the home of Parsons' friend [[Robert A. Heinlein]] and included science fiction writers including Cleve Cartmill, Jack Williamson, and [[Anthony Boucher]]. Among Parsons' favorite works of fiction was Williamson's ''[[Darker Than You Think]]'', a novelette published in the fantasy magazine ''[[Unknown (magazine)|Unknown]]'' in 1940, which inspired his later occult workings. Boucher used Parsons as a partial basis for the character of Hugo Chantrelle in his murder mystery ''[[Rocket to the Morgue]]'' (1942).{{sfn|Pendle|2005|pp = 228–230}}

Helen went away for a period in June 1941, during which Parsons, encouraged to do so by the sexually permissive attitude of O.T.O., began a sexual relationship with her 17-year-old sister, Sara. Upon Helen's return, Sara asserted that she was Parsons' new wife, and Parsons himself admitted that he found Sara more sexually attractive than Helen.{{sfnm|1a1 = Starr|1y = 2003|1p = 274|2a1 = Carter|2y = 2004|2pp = 93–94|3a1 = Pendle|3y = 2005|3pp = 203–205|4a1 = Kaczynski|4y = 2010|4p = 537}} Conflicted in her feelings, Helen sought comfort in Wilfred Talbot Smith and began a relationship with him that lasted for the rest of his life; the four remained friends.{{sfnm|1a1 = Starr|1y = 2003|1p = 274|2a1 = Pendle|2y = 2005|2pp = 203–205}} The two couples, along with a number of other Thelemites (some of whom with their children), moved to 1003 South Orange Grove Boulevard, an [[American Craftsman]]-style mansion. They all contributed to the rent of $100 a month and lived communally in what replaced Winona Boulevard as the new base of the Agape Lodge, maintaining an allotment and slaughtering their own livestock for meat as well as blood rituals.{{sfnm|1a1 = Starr|1y = 2003|1pp = 271–273, 276|2a1 = Carter|2y = 2004|2pp = 83–84|3a1 = Pendle|3y = 2005|3pp = 207–210|4a1 = Kaczynski|4y = 2010|4p = 521}} Parsons decorated his new room with a copy of the [[Stele of Revealing]], a statue of [[Pan (god)|Pan]], and his collection of swords and daggers. He converted the garage and laundry room into a chemical laboratory and often held science fiction discussion meetings in the kitchen, and entertained the children with hunts for fairies in the 25-acre garden.{{sfnm|1a1 = Carter|1y = 2004|1p = 84|2a1 = Pendle|2y = 2005|2pp = 209–210|3a1 = Miller|3y = 2014|3p = 117}}

{{quote box|width=300px|bgcolor=lightblue|align=right|quote=I hight [[Don Quixote]], I live on Peyote,<br />marihuana, morphine and cocaine.<br />I never knew sadness but only a madness<br />that burns at the heart and brain,
|source= —Excerpt from an untitled poem published in Parsons' ill-fated ''Oriflamme'' journal{{sfn|Pendle|2005|p=218}}
}}

Although there were arguments among the commune members, Parsons remained dedicated to Thelema. He gave almost all of his salary to O.T.O. while actively seeking out new members{{mdash}}including Forman{{mdash}}and financially supported Crowley in London through Germer.{{sfn|Pendle|2005|pp = 212–213}} Parsons' enthusiasm for the Lodge quickly began to impact on his professional life. He frequently appeared at Aerojet hungover and sleep-deprived from late nights of Lodge activities, and invited many of his colleagues to them, drawing the ire of staff who previously tolerated Parsons' occultism as harmless eccentricity; known to von Kármán as a "delightful screwball", he was frequently observed reciting Crowley's poem "Hymn to Pan" in an ecstatic manner compared to the preaching of [[Billy Graham]] during rocket tests{{mdash}}and on request at parties to their great amusement. They disapproved of his hesitancy to separate his vocations; Parsons became more rigorously engaged in Aerojet's day-to-day business in an effort to resolve this weariness, but the Agape Lodge soon came under investigation by both the [[Pasadena Police Department (California)|Pasadena Police Department]] and the FBI. Both had received allegations of a "[[black magic]] cult" involved in sexual orgies; one complainant was a 16-year-old boy who said that he was raped by lodge members, while neighbors reported a ritual involving a naked pregnant woman jumping through fire. After Parsons explained that the Lodge was simply "an organization dedicated to religious and philosophical speculation", neither agency found evidence of illegal activity and came to the conclusion that the Lodge constituted no threat to national security.{{sfnm|1a1 = Starr|1y = 2003|1pp = 283–285|2a1 = Carter|2y = 2004|2pp = 87–88|3a1 = Pendle|3y = 2005|3pp = 214–215|4a1 = Kaczynski|4y = 2010|4p = 525}} Having been a long-term heavy user of alcohol and marijuana, Parsons now habitually used [[cocaine]], [[amphetamines]], [[peyote]], [[mescaline]], and [[opiate]]s as well.{{sfn|Pendle|2005|p = 216}}<ref name="Rasmussen" /> He continued to have sexual relations with multiple women, including McMurtry's fiancée Claire. When Parsons paid for her to have an [[abortion]], McMurtry was angered and their friendship broke down.{{sfn|Pendle|2005|p = 215}}

[[File:JPL1942.jpg|thumb|left|The JPL [[Arroyo Seco (Los Angeles County)|Arroyo Seco]] site in February 1942]]
Crowley and Germer wanted to see Smith removed as head of the Agape Lodge, believing that he had become a bad influence on its members. Parsons and Helen wrote to them to defend their mentor but Germer ordered him to stand down; Parsons was appointed as temporary head of the Lodge.{{sfnm|1a1 = Starr|1y = 2003|1pp = 278, 280–282|2a1 = Pendle|2y = 2005|2pp = 216–217, 220|3a1 = Kaczynski|3y = 2010|3pp = 524–525}} Some veteran Lodge members disliked Parsons' influence, concerned that it encouraged excessive sexual [[polyandry]] that was religiously detrimental, but his charismatic orations at Lodge meetings assured his popularity among the majority of followers. Parsons soon created the Thelemite journal ''Oriflamme'', in which he published his own poetry, but Crowley was unimpressed{{mdash}}particularly due to Parsons' descriptions of drug use{{mdash}}and the project was soon shelved.{{sfn|Parsons|2008|pp = 217–219}} Helen gave birth to Smith's son in April; the child was named Kwen Lanval Parsons.{{sfnm|1a1 = Starr|1y = 2003|1p = 289|2a1 = Carter|2y = 2004|2p = 88|3a1 = Pendle|3y = 2005|3p = 221}} Smith and Helen left with Kwen for a two-room cabin in Rainbow Valley in May.{{sfnm|1a1 = Starr|1y = 2003|1pp = 290–291|2a1 = Carter|2y = 2004|2pp = 92–93|3a1 = Pendle|3y = 2005|3pp = 221–222}} Concurrently in England, Crowley undertook an [[astrology|astrological]] analysis of Smith's birth chart and came to the conclusion that Smith was the incarnation of a god, greatly altering his estimation of him. Smith remained skeptical as Crowley's analysis was seemingly deliberately devised in Parsons' favor, encouraging Smith to step down from his role in the Agape Lodge and instructing him to take a meditative retreat.{{sfnm|1a1 = Starr|1y = 2003|1pp = 294–298|2a1 = Carter|2y = 2004|2pp = 90–91|3a1 = Pendle|3y = 2005|3pp = 221–222}} Refusing to take orders from Germer any more, Smith resigned from O.T.O. Parsons—who remained sympathetic and friendly to Smith during the conflict and was weary of Crowley's "appalling egotism, bad taste, bad judgement, and pedanticism"—ceased lodge activities and resigned as its head, but withdrew his resignation after receiving a pacifying letter from Crowley.{{sfnm|1a1 = Starr|1y = 2003|1pp = 299–300|2a1 = Pendle|2y = 2005|2pp = 222–223}}

[[File:Jack Parsons.jpg|thumb|right|Parsons standing above a [[JATO]] canister at JPL June 1943]]
By mid-1943, Aerojet was operating on a budget of $650,000. The same year Parsons and von Kármán traveled to [[Norfolk, Virginia]] on the invitation of Secretary of the Navy [[Frank Knox]] to consult on a new JATO contract for the U.S. Navy. Though JATOs were being mass-produced for military applications, JATO-propelled aircraft could not "keep up" with larger, [[bomber]] planes taking off from long aircraft carrier runways—which made Aerojet's industry at risk of becoming defunct.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Bullock |first=William B. |date=February 1953 |title= JATO{{snd}}The Magic Bottle |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UoGrm9YgAoEC&q=jpl |format=PDF |magazine=Flying |volume=52 |issue=2 |pages=25, 44 |issn=0015-4806}}</ref> Parsons demonstrated the efficacy of the newer JATOs to solve this issue by equipping a [[Grumman]] plane with solid-fuel units; its assisted takeoff from the [[USS Charger (CVE-30)|USS ''Charger'']] was successful, but produced smoke containing a noxious, yellow-colored residue. The Navy guaranteed Parsons a contract on the condition that this residue was removed; this led to the invention of ''Aeroplex'', a technology for smokeless [[Contrail|vapor trails]] developed at Aerojet by Parsons.{{sfn|Carter|2004|p = 93}}

As the U.S. became aware that Nazi Germany had developed the [[V-2 rocket]], the military—following recommendations from von Kármán based upon research using British intelligence—placed a renewed impetus on its own rocket research, reinstating Qian to the GALCIT project. They gave the Group a $3&nbsp;million grant to develop rocket-based weapons, and the Group was expanded and renamed the [[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]] (JPL).{{sfnm|1a1 = Carter|1y = 2004|1pp = 96–97|2a1 = Pendle|2y = 2005|2pp = 231–233}} By this point the Navy were ordering 20,000 JATOs a month from Aerojet, and in December 1944 Haley negotiated for the company to sell 51% of its stock to the [[General Tire|General Tire and Rubber Company]] to cope with the increased demand. Aerojet's Caltech-linked employees—including Zwicky, Malina and Summerfield—would only agree to the sale on the condition that Parsons and Forman were removed from the company, viewing their occult activities as disreputable. JPL historian [[Erik M. Conway]] also attributes Parsons' expulsion to more practical concerns: he "still wanted to work in the same way as he'd done in his backyard, instinctive and without regard for safety".<ref name="Andrews" /> Parsons and Forman were unfazed, informing Haley of their prediction that the rocket industry would become obsolete in the postwar age and seeing more financial incentive in starting a chain of laundromats. Haley persuaded them to sell their stock, resulting in Parsons leaving the company with $11,000.{{sfnm|1a1 = Carter|1y = 2004|1p = 100|2a1 = Pendle|2y = 2005|2pp = 239–240}} With this money he bought the lease to 1003, which had come to be known as "the Parsonage" after him.{{sfn|Pendle|2005|p = 241}}