Description
The long-buried truth about the dawn of the Space Age: lies, spies, socialism, and sex magick.
Los Angeles, 1930s: Everyone knows that rockets are just toys, the stuff of cranks and pulp magazines. Nevertheless, an earnest engineering student named Frank Malina sets out to prove the doubters wrong. With the help of his friend Jack Parsons, a grandiose and occult-obsessed explosives enthusiast, Malina embarks on a journey that takes him from junk yards and desert lots to the heights of the military-industrial complex.
Malina designs the first American rocket to reach space and establishes the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. But trouble soon finds him: the FBI suspects Malina of being a communist. And when some classified documents go missing, will his comrades prove as dependable as his engineering?
Drawing on an astonishing array of untapped sources, including FBI documents and private archives, Escape From Earth tells the inspiring true story of Malina's achievements--and the political fear that's kept them hidden. At its heart, this is an Icarus tale: a real life fable about the miracle of human ingenuity and the frailty of dreams.
Author: Fraser MacDonald
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Published: 06/25/2019
Pages: 384
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.30lbs
Size: 9.30h x 6.20w x 1.40d
ISBN13: 9781610398718
ISBN10: 1610398718
BISAC Categories:
- Science | History
- Science | Space Science | General
- Technology & Engineering | Aeronautics & Astronautics
Los Angeles, 1930s: Everyone knows that rockets are just toys, the stuff of cranks and pulp magazines. Nevertheless, an earnest engineering student named Frank Malina sets out to prove the doubters wrong. With the help of his friend Jack Parsons, a grandiose and occult-obsessed explosives enthusiast, Malina embarks on a journey that takes him from junk yards and desert lots to the heights of the military-industrial complex.
Malina designs the first American rocket to reach space and establishes the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. But trouble soon finds him: the FBI suspects Malina of being a communist. And when some classified documents go missing, will his comrades prove as dependable as his engineering?
Drawing on an astonishing array of untapped sources, including FBI documents and private archives, Escape From Earth tells the inspiring true story of Malina's achievements--and the political fear that's kept them hidden. At its heart, this is an Icarus tale: a real life fable about the miracle of human ingenuity and the frailty of dreams.
Author: Fraser MacDonald
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Published: 06/25/2019
Pages: 384
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.30lbs
Size: 9.30h x 6.20w x 1.40d
ISBN13: 9781610398718
ISBN10: 1610398718
BISAC Categories:
- Science | History
- Science | Space Science | General
- Technology & Engineering | Aeronautics & Astronautics
About the Author
Fraser MacDonald is a lecturer in Human Geography at the University of Edinburgh where he teaches historical geography and the history of science. He has a regular by-line at The Guardian and has also written for Aeon Magazine, The Herald, The Age, The Australian, the LRB Books blog, among others publications.