Author Mark Phillips, a retired naval officer who spent part of his career hunting Soviet submarines, said The Laika Mission focuses on not only history and science, but the emotion of the world’s fascination with space during the 1950’s. His story is about the launch of the Soviet Union’s second satellite which carried special cargo – a dog named Laika.
“Readers will follow her journey from street stray to space, and meet her young Russian dog handler, Dimitri, who readies her for the historic flight,” Phillips said. “The story brings Dimitri and Laika together with a venerable rocket scientist and two military doctors amongst the backdrop of a communist country trying to shake the oppression of the past.”
Published by Halo Publishing International, The Laika Mission will intrigue readers from teen-age to adult as they wonder if the dog will make it around the Earth and return home safely or have her chances for survival doomed by the rush to the cosmos. “We mostly focus on the politics and science of the United States race to space against the Soviet Union, but Author Mark Phillips brings out the emotion involved in the human desire to be number one in the world,” said Publisher Lisa Umina.
Phillips said he wanted to show how people working on the mission felt. “I wanted to show the human element. We tend to forget that the scientists and others involved were human beings, not simply our enemies.”
About the Author:
Mark Phillips is a native of Parma, Ohio, Phillips is a 30-year veteran of the U.S. Navy. For the past 15 years, he has been teaching middle school science in his hometown.
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