Mike Gruntman

Mike Gruntman is professor of astronautics in the University of Southern California and author. Mike is actively involved in R&D programs in space science and space technology. He has authored and co-authored more than 300 scholarly publications, including 6 books and 100+ journal articles, in the areas of astronautics, space physics, space technology, scientific instrumentation, space sensors, astronautical education, and history of rocketry, spacecraft, and missile defense. Mike's books on rocketry and space history provide an unusually broad view of the realization of the space age. This breadth reflects the author's truly unique personal experience, a life journey from a child growing on the Tyuratam (Baikonur) missile range and space launch base in the 1950s and early 1960s to an accomplished space physicist to the founding director of a major nationally recognized academic program in space engineering in the heart of the American space industry. Such a unique personal background, combined with the broad scientific and historical interests of the author, has clearly contributed to his books. The International Academy of Astronautics recognized Mike's "Blazing the Trail. The Early History of Spacecraft and Rocketry" with the Luigi Napolitano Book award in 2006. His "From Astronautics to Cosmonautics" was nominated for the 2007 Eugene M. Emme Astronautical Literature Award of the the American Astronautical Society (AAS). Web site: http://astronauticsnow.com