My unsung hero of science: Frank Malina – fearless rocket engineer, groundbreaking artist and communist ‘traitor’

Test crew for the Jato prototype solid rocket booster including a dapper-looking Frank Malina (centre), August 1941. Nasa Jet Propulsion Laboratory/Wikimedia

Frank Malina was a lot of things. The Texas-born aeronautical engineer co-designed the first jet-assisted take-off (Jato) rocket and the US’s first operational high-altitude rocket. He co-founded and became director of Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory – and along the way, joined a team of rocket engineers who became known as the “suicide squad” for their risk-taking approach.