Malina, Frank J. (1912–1981)
American pre-Space Age rocket engineer and second director of the Jet
Propulsion Laboratory (1944–46). As a PhD student at the California
Institute of Technology in the mid-1930s, Malina began a research program
to design a high-altitude sounding rocket.
Beginning in 1936, he and his colleagues started the static testing of rocket
engines in the canyons above the Rose Bowl, with mixed results, but a series
of tests eventually led to the development of the WAC-Corporal
rocket during World War II. After the war, Malina worked with the United
Nations and eventually retired to Paris to pursue a career as an artist.
Related category
• ROCKET
ENGINEERS AND SPACE SCIENTISTS
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