Travis Shane Taylor (born July 24, 1968, in

Decatur, Alabama Decatur (dɪˈkeɪtə(r)) is the largest city and county seat of Morgan County (with a portion also in Limestone County) in the U.S. state of Alabama. Nicknamed "The River City", it is located in northern Alabama on the banks of Wheeler La ...

) is an American scientist, engineer, science fiction author, and the star of National Geographic Channel's ''

Rocket City Rednecks ''Rocket City Rednecks'' is an American television show that focuses on engineering. The show is set in Huntsville, Alabama (known as "Rocket City" for its historic contributions to the American space program), and features Travis Taylor, thre ...

'' which aired 2011–2013. Taylor has written numerous technical papers, science fiction novels, and two textbooks. He has appeared in television documentaries, including NGC's ''When Aliens Attack'' and starring as the lead investigator in

History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...

's '' The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch''.

Early and family life

Travis Shane Taylor was born July 24, 1968, in

North Alabama North Alabama is a region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Several geographic definitions for the area exist, with all descriptions including the nine counties of Alabama's Tennessee Valley region. The North Alabama Industrial Development Associ ...

. His father, Charles Taylor, worked as a machinist at Wyle Laboratories, which subcontracted for National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the 1960s.Ben Bartley
"Dr. Travis S. Taylor: Attempting to Understand Auburn’s ''Ubermensch''"
''The War Leader,'' June 21, 2012. Retrieved September 23, 2012. As a boy, Taylor read science fiction and dismantled household electronics. While in high school, Taylor's family moved to Somerville, near

Huntsville Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in th ...

. At 17 years old, with the help of his neighbor, he built a radio telescope that won the state science fair.Meet the Ringleader of 'Rocket City Rednecks' , Space.com, http://www.space.com/13114-rocket-city-rednecks-travis-taylor-interview.html. Retrieved September 24, 2012. This led the Army to offer Taylor a job working at Redstone Arsenal on direct energy weapons systems directly out of high school as well as a scholarship. Taylor lives near Huntsville with his wife Karen, daughter Kalista Jade, two dogs Stevie and Wesker, and his cat Kuro.

Education and research career

Taylor earned a B.S. in electrical engineering from Auburn University in 1991, before going on to study at University of Alabama, Huntsville where he earned a MS in

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

in 1994, a PhD in

optical science Atomic, molecular, and optical physics (AMO) is the study of matter-matter and light-matter interactions; at the scale of one or a few atoms and energy scales around several electron volts. The three areas are closely interrelated. AMO theory in ...

and engineering in 1999, and a MSE in mechanical and aerospace engineering in 2001. He then completed a MS in

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, g ...

in 2004 at the

University of Western Sydney Western Sydney University, formerly the University of Western Sydney, is an Australian multi-campus university in the Greater Western region of Sydney, Australia. The university in its current form was founded in 1989 as a federated network ...

before earning a second PhD from University of Alabama, Huntsville in aerospace engineering in 2012.Alumni Author Spotlight: Travis Taylor, https://www.uah.edu/library/about/archived-library-events/10359-alumni-author-spotlight-travis-taylor. Retrieved May 10, 2021. By 2006, Taylor had worked on various programs for the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national sec ...

and

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

for over sixteen years. He has researched several advanced

propulsion Propulsion is the generation of force by any combination of pushing or pulling to modify the translational motion of an object, which is typically a rigid body (or an articulated rigid body) but may also concern a fluid. The term is derived f ...

concepts, very large space telescopes, space-based beamed energy systems, high-energy lasers,Meet the Rocket City Rednecks, http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/rocket-city-rednecks/articles/meet-the-rocket-city-rednecks/. Retrieved September 24, 2012. and next generation space launch concepts. Taylor has also been involved with

Human intelligence Human intelligence is the intellectual capability of humans, which is marked by complex cognitive feats and high levels of motivation and self-awareness. High intelligence is associated with better outcomes in life. Through intelligence, humans ...

(HUMINT), Imagery intelligence (IMINT), Signals intelligence (SIGINT) and

Measurement and signature intelligence Measurement and signature intelligence (MASINT) is a technical branch of intelligence gathering, which serves to detect, track, identify or describe the distinctive characteristics (signatures) of fixed or dynamic target sources. This often incl ...

(MASINT) concept studies. Taylor was briefly the informal chief scientist on the

Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) is an office within the United States Office of the Secretary of Defense that investigates unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and other anomalous phenomena, sometimes termed unidentified aerial phe ...

. He is also a Principal Research Scientist at Radiance Technologies.

Science fiction

According to Taylor, after he expressed his dissatisfaction with space opera and the comparative dearth of recent

hard science fiction Hard science fiction is a category of science fiction characterized by concern for scientific accuracy and logic. The term was first used in print in 1957 by P. Schuyler Miller in a review of John W. Campbell's ''Islands of Space'' in the Novemb ...

, he was challenged by his wife to write his first book, and studied

Robert A. Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein (; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accu ...

's works for stylistic influence.Interview with Travis S. Taylor – Baen Books, . Retrieved September 24, 2012.

Television

Taylor first appeared in episodes of '' The Universe'' and ''

Life After People ''Life After People'' is a television series on which scientists, mechanical engineers, and other experts speculate about what might become of planet Earth if humanity suddenly disappeared. The featured experts also talk about the impact of hu ...

'' for the

in 2010, after his name came up in a search regarding

space warfare Space warfare is hypothetical combat in which one or more belligerents are situated in outer space. The scope of space warfare therefore includes ''ground-to-space warfare'', such as attacking satellites from the Earth; ''space-to-space warfa ...

.Exclusive Interview with Travis Taylor of Nat Geo's Rocket City Rednecks, http://www.tvtango.com/news/detail/id/400/exclusive-interview-with-travis-taylor-of-nat-geos-rocket-city-rednecks. Retrieved September 23, 2012. Taylor was then on National Geographic Channel's ''When Aliens Attack'' in 2011. In the summer of 2011, the National Geographic Channel announced a new series called ''

'' which features Taylor. The first episode showed in September 2011. A self-proclaimed '

redneck ''Redneck'' is a derogatory term chiefly, but not exclusively, applied to white Americans perceived to be crass and unsophisticated, closely associated with rural whites of the Southern United States.Harold Wentworth, and Stuart Berg Flexner, ' ...

rocket scientist', Taylor focuses on 'hillbilly ingenuity' for the show's backyard science experiments, aided by his family and best friend, who are all machinists and inventors. The show ran for two seasons, from September 2011 to January 2013. In 2015, he hosted the series "3 Scientists Walk into a Bar", which had four episodes in 2015. From 2017 he appeared on the

show ''

Ancient Aliens ''Ancient Aliens'' is an American television series that explores the pseudohistorical and pseudoarchaeological ancient astronauts hypothesis, past human- extraterrestrial contact, UFOs, government conspiracies and related pseudoscientific topi ...

'', starting in the Season 12 episode "Voices of the Gods," and following with appearances in 28 episodes through season 18. Additional History Channel appearances were on '' The Tesla Files'' and ''

The Curse of Oak Island ''The Curse of Oak Island'' is a multi-season reality television series that chronicles an eclectic team of treasure hunters and their search for legendary treasure on Oak Island, off the shore of Nova Scotia, Canada. It is an American televisio ...

'' in 2019. Taylor led a 2020 History Channel series focusing on mysteries at

Skinwalker Ranch Skinwalker Ranch, also known as Sherman Ranch, is a property of approximately , located southeast of Ballard, Utah, that is reputed to be the site of paranormal and UFO-related activities. Its name is taken from the skin-walker of Navajo legen ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, United States, in which he and a team investigated potential paranormal phenomena, with a second and third season in 2021 and 2022. On other networks, he appeared in episodes of ''In Search of Monsters'' and ''

NASA's Unexplained Files This is a list of programs broadcast by Science Channel. Science Channel broadcasts a number of science-related television series originally produced by or aired on Discovery Channel, such as ''Beyond Tomorrow'', among others. Discovery Communica ...

''.

Filmography

Bibliography

Fiction

Nonfiction books

Footnotes

References

External links

Travis S. Taylor
on

Baen Books Baen Books () is an American publishing house for science fiction and fantasy. In science fiction, it emphasizes space opera, hard science fiction, and military science fiction. The company was established in 1983 by science fiction publisher an ...

(archived) * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Travis S. 1968 births 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American short story writers American male novelists American science fiction writers American male short story writers Auburn University alumni Living people NASA people Participants in American reality television series People from Decatur, Alabama University of Alabama in Huntsville alumni Western Sydney University alumni