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Reviewed by Maria Victoria Beltran for Readers' Favorite
Baikonur Man: Space, Science, American Ambition, and Russian Chaos at the Cold War’s End by Barry L Stoddard is a non-fiction drama set against the backdrop of the Cold War. The story is about an American start-up forging a secret deal to place American scientific payloads aboard the Soviet space station MIR. This agreement was negotiated and approved behind the backs of NASA and Congress, with the assistance of officials inside the Commerce and Defense departments. This grueling saga of how science, camaraderie, hardships, and madness led to the first American experiments and payloads to be brought to space on Russian rockets, as recounted by one who witnessed history itself. Stoddard was present when the company founder of the start-up met with three students and their professors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This is his story.
Barry L Stoddard’s Baikonur Man is an ambitious and gripping narrative about how a group of young scientists and a small company ran experiments in space in the 1980s. However, it is more than just about our world's social or political landscape. Stoddard goes personal as we are immersed in a first-person adventure full of unexpected moments, wit, humor, drama, and hope. This fascinating narrative is much more than just about science. It is also about the resilience and beauty of the human condition during sociopolitical change. It's a must-read for those interested in science and history. Highly recommended!