I first met Johnny Powell in 1975 when he was 13. This was at Sunrise Mall in Sacramento, five years into my space painting career. I was there displaying my work on pegboard stands and wishing I was anywhere else in the world, even San Quentin Prison.

Johnny loved my work so so much his face lit up brighter than my show lights. So I asked him if he wanted to be an astronaut someday. And he said, “Actually I want to be the head of J. P. Aerospace someday!”

I glanced to mom. She nodded in truth.

This young man it seems, had wanted his own space company from as far back as they both remember. While other boys were drawing rockets, Johnny was drawing rocket factories. And before they left, bless her heart, mom picked up a small painting with an astronaut that still hangs over her son’s office desk today.

That was 27 years ago. Twenty seven years of friendship. Today, at 40, with a son five years older than he was when we met, Mr. John Powell proudly heads what he calls: AMERICA’S OTHER SPACE PROGRAM, You guessed it: J. P. AEROSPACE.

If there ever was an underdog American Dream worthy of a movie, Johnny Powell is it. Let me say this: I am proud that I encouraged him. It feels good. And no credit is mine whatsoever for his success. If anything, Johnny Powell inspires me.

According to both he and his mother that day, John’s father, an Air Force career man, was anything but inspiried concerning his son’s chances of his growing up to be an industrialist. I remember telling the boy outright, “you just follow your heart in spite of anyone ... anyone”. Sorry dad. I couldn’t help it. Johnny was going to do it anyway. Besides, today John Powell, Sr., is retired from the military and actively involved in every launch his son puts up. Don’t you love it.

J. P. Aerospace rocket in tower being
readied for flight. Photo: ©J. P. Aerospace

During the intervening years until today (late 2002), when I recently became an Official Sponsor of J. P. Aerospace, Johnny and I have had many good times together. For one, sometime before 1984 he invited me to make a sculpture that would be launched into space, where it would circle the globe. In our naive excitement we decided on bronze, therefore when, “ART SAT,” was completed it was ridiculously heavy for launch, (fifteen pounds or so), however plans proceeded with little more than hearty laughter as to what we must have been thinking at the time.

In the mid 80's, holding "ART SAT" ready for launch
from my mighty morphin' ranger arm. This side
symbolizing: "It's time to smile in outer space".
Photo credit: Peter Henricks

Undeterred, Johnny turned to NASA for what in those days were called their, “Get Away Specials,” intending to launch, “ART SAT,” that way. “Get Away Specials,” were offered by NASA as a chance for people to launch experiments into space at very low cost.

“ART SAT,” was actually designated as: “Payload 613,” aboard the shuttle Columbia and accepted for orbital launch by NASA. Nine months before the scheduled Columbia launch however, the shuttle Challenger disaster occurred. After that, NASA tightened policy and all “Get Away Specials,” were canceled.

Along with losing “Payload 613,” Johnny lost major funding as well, for his next rocket(s). As he puts it now, “Literally before the last piece of Challenger debris hit the ground I got a call from New York canceling funding ––– so then the question was how to deliver a payload for twenty bucks, because that’s what I had left”.

And here is where everything changed for J. P. Aerospace. For well over a decade Powell had wasted unholy amounts of time seeking investment capital. After this grinding disappointment, Johnny and his followers hunkered down for nothing less than Junk Yard Wars. From now on J. P. Aerospace would do everything themselves: concept, design, engineering, parts-scrounging, development, obtaining sponsorship, fundraising, government licensing, test firing, experiments, transportation, launch, and retrieval.

Researching low cost launches, Johnny discovered that professor James Van Allen of the University of Iowa, (the man the “Van Allen Belt” was named for), had, in the 1950’s, built a space program using surplus weather balloons and rockets. Not only that, it had been a highly successful program in terms of scientific data collected. Van Allen was tying rockets onto balloons and reaching space. Not much public excitement was generated however, because the launches only went up and down, with no orbiting.

Lift off in the Black Rock Desert.
J. P. Aerospace Rises! Photo: ©J.P.Aerospace

Since 1993, J. P. Aerospace has launched 72 missions reaching the edge of space. From their cameras, the curvature of earth is plainly visible. Flights are made from the Black Rock Desert in Nevada on a regular basis. Recovery is done in off road vehicles using radio direction finders. Orbiting vehicles and astronauts in surplus Russian space suits are soon to follow. So far, over 10,000 potential astronauts have begged, cajoled, and pleaded to be the first. Today, approximately thirty hardworking volunteers work to support Johnny, some having been with him for twenty years.

One fantastic educational project J. P. developed was for schools around the globe, which are invited to have children make experiments that will fit inside ping pong balls. A whole classroom submits say thirty, “PONG SATS,” with different experiments inside, with each student signing their name on the ball. Plant seeds for instance, are then sent to space and upon return, grown against control samples in the classroom. So far, over 700 Pong Sats have been put up and returned to over 40 schools.

All are not science projects. A fireman who worked on the Oklahoma City bombing for instance, had recovered an angel pin in the rubble. He asked J.P. that it be flown to space, then put the jewelry piece in a permanent exhibit at the site of the Murrah Office Building.

No less a personage than Arthur C. Clarke, author of, “2001, A Space Odyssey,” uses ping pong balls flown by J. P. Aerospace for play in Sri Lanka where he lives. It seems the writer has a walker bolted to the floor at his end of his ping pong table, and according to witnesses, if you visit him there, the elderly gentleman will beat your butt off royally.

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