The Fort Harrison Hotel serves as the flagship building of the "Flag Land Base," the spiritual home of the Church of Scientology. The 11-story hotel has over 220 rooms, was opened in 1926, and was purchased by the Church in 1975 when it was in a state of disrepair. Today, the hotel accommodates many of the high profile members of the organization when visiting the area.

Notably, Scientologist member Lisa McPherson was kept captive in Room 174 for 17 days after having a psychotic episode. The religion eschews any sort of conventional psychiatric therapy, in favor of their own version of treatment. McPherson died of a pulmonary embolism en route to a hospital on December 5, 1995. The incident has become a rallying cry for many anti-Scientology groups.

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Located in the New Mexico desert about an hour east of Las Vegas (the New Mexico one) is the Trementina Base of Scientology. The base features a large complex built into the side of a mountain.

The complex houses a vault that stores L. Ron Hubbard's writings etched onto titanium plates and his audio lectures on nickel records. Also at the location is a large-scale symbol of two interlocking circles carved into the desert floor.

The purpose of the symbol is unknown, but it's trademarked by the Church of Scientific Technology (CST) and also located at the Creston Ranch, CA location (both properties owned by CST).

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Jack Parsons was known as the "James Dean of the occult set."
An early dabbler in rocketry, his work with collaborators in the field became the basis for JPL.

Parsons interest in sexy-time occult practices made his three-floor mansion a swingin' good time for parties. He attracted numerous bohemians and eccentrics to rent rooms there, including writer and religion founder L. Ron Hubbard.

Hubbard lived there long enough to dominate the house with charisma, and then to take off with Parsons' mistress, Sara Northrup Hollister.

As a free love advocate, he got over it, and eventually sold the Parsonage to invest in a yacht-selling scheme with L. Ron. El-Ron took the money but didn't provide any boats, so that was the end of their friendship.

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The Tesla Gigafactory, located in the Nevada desert east of Reno/Sparks, will be larger than all of the other lithium-ion battery factories combined.

Using geothermal, wind and solar energy, the Gigafactory will "be energy self-sufficient."

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Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos is in the rocket game as well. His company, Blue Origin, has a launch site in west Texas near the town of Van Horn.

Specializing in VTVL (Vertical Takeoff Vertical Landing) technology, the team has been making advances in suborbital rocketry (video here).

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