Ted Taylor
ID: ted-taylor
Summary
Project Orion leader. Nuclear weapon designer at Los Alamos. Later nuclear nonproliferation advocate. Died Oct 2004.
Intelligence Analysis
Ted Taylor — Nuclear Weapon Designer and Project Orion Leader
Ted Taylor (1925-2004) was a nuclear weapon designer at Los Alamos who led Project Orion. He bridges the Black Track (nuclear weapons design) and the White Track (nuclear space propulsion). His later conversion to nonproliferation advocacy demonstrates the moral complexity of scientists in the three-track architecture.
Key Findings
- ▸ ### Ted Taylor — Nuclear Weapon Designer and Project Orion Leader Ted Taylor (1925-2004) was a nuclear weapon designer at Los Alamos who led Project Orion.
- ▸ He bridges the Black Track (nuclear weapons design) and the White Track (nuclear space propulsion).
- ▸ His later conversion to nonproliferation advocacy demonstrates the moral complexity of scientists in the three-track architecture.
Network Linkage
Connects to: Project Orion (led), LANL (worked at). The weapons-to-propulsion-to-nonproliferation career arc is a microcosm of the nuclear technology debate.
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View in Network GraphTimeline Mentions (2)
Project Orion Founded
Project Orion, a nuclear pulse propulsion program, was founded at General Atomics under ARPA funding. Ted Taylor led the program, with Freeman Dyson as key theoretical physicist.
programProject Orion Cancelled
Project Orion was cancelled in 1965, primarily due to the Partial Test Ban Treaty of 1963 which prohibited nuclear explosions in space. Ted Taylor later became a nuclear nonproliferation advocate.
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