A New American Space Plan: by Travis Taylor, Ringleader of the Rocket City Rednecks

by Travis S. Taylor, Stephanie Osborn

Meet the Rocket City Rednecks. They're five ''backwoods'' guys from the rocket city: Huntsville, Alabama, home to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and the birthplace of the U.S. space program. Sure, they love to shoot stuff and drink beer, and one of 'em lives in a trailer, but with a family tree full of NASA rocket scientists (not to mention their own PhDs and advanced degrees), they aim a little higher—like using homemade moonshine to fuel a rocket!

Now, in typical laidback style, Dr. Travis S. Taylor, leader of the crew, delivers the goods on how America can return to space exploration and manned space flight. What's needed is a good old ''try anything'' attitude, a bit of gumption, and the spectacularly entertaining backyard science that's the Rocket City Redneck specialty.

At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (DRM Rights Management).

224 pages, Paperback

First published November 6, 2012

About the author

Travis Shane Taylor is a born and bred southerner and resides just outside Huntsville, Alabama. He has a Doctorate in Optical Science and Engineering, a Master’s degree in Physics, a Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, all from the University of Alabama in Huntsville; a Master’s degree in Astronomy from the Univ. of Western Sydney, and a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Auburn University. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in the state of Alabama.

Dr. Taylor has worked on various programs for the Department of Defense and NASA for the past sixteen years. He is currently working on several advanced propulsion concepts, very large space telescopes, space based beamed energy systems, future combat technologies and systems, and next generation space launch concepts. He is also involved with multiple MASINT, SIGINT, IMINT, and HUMINT concept studies.

He has published over 25 papers and the appendix on solar sailing in the 2nd edition of Deep Space Probes by Greg Matloff.

His first science fiction novel is, Warp Speed, and his second is The Quantum Connection published by Baen Publishing. He is also working on two different series with best-selling author John Ringo also by Baen Publishing. He has several other works of both fiction and nonfiction ongoing.

Travis is also a Black Belt martial artist, a private pilot, a SCUBA diver, races mountain and road bikes, competed in triathlons, and has been the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of several hard rock bands. He currently lives with his wife Karen, his daughter Kalista Jade, two dogs Stevie and Wesker, and his cat Kuro.

Reviews

[Howard Brazee · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love the space program, but as I kept coming across references blaming Obama and welfare for problems with the space program, I couldn't finish this book.

[Tymothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're a 'space nut' like me, a general fan of space exploration or an industry professional, this is an excellent read. Although the author tends to ramble somewhat, he's a very passionate, well-informed advocate of manned spaceflight as a integral part of American life. He presents a number of great points regarding the future of America in space and gives a good alternative to past & current government plans for regaining our place beyond Earth.

[Elie Harriett · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a pretty good piece of non-fiction. It is a history of various country's space programs, including the U.S. A brief on what other countries are doing right now. And some suggestions on where we could go. Recommended for people interested in that type of reading.