Born in the
USSR, Gruntman grew up as a child at the Soviet
Tyuratam Missile Test Range, also known as
Baikonur Cosmodrome, in the late 1950s and early 1960s.[citation needed]
After graduating from
Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology with a master's degree in physics, he went on to receive his Ph.D. (1984) in physics from the
Space Research Institute (IKI ИКИ) of the
USSR Academy of Sciences.[2] Gruntman came to IKI as a student in 1973 and then worked there from 1977 on as a research fellow.[3] From 1987 to 1990 he worked as a research fellow in the Institute for Problems in Mechanics (IPM) of the USSR Academy of Sciences.[4] In March 1990 he joined
USC in
Los Angeles,
California as research scientist and became professor in 1993.[5][failed verification]
Gruntman has been advocating creation of pure space engineering academic units as an alternative to space degree programs in aerospace departments combining aeronautics and astronautics.[18][19][20] He served as the founding chairman, 2004–2007, of such an independent academic unit at
USC, currently the Department of Astronautical Engineering.[21] He chairs the department again from 2016 to 2019.[22]
Gruntman also produces educational short videos on
satellite orbits and related topics which has attracted more than a million viewers on YouTube.[23] He is a frequent guest speaker on
The Space Show.[24]
Gruntman, Mike (2004). Blazing the trail : the early history of spacecraft and rocketry. Reston, Va.: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
ISBN978-1-60086-872-6.
OCLC774285730.
—— (2022). My fifteen years at IKI, the Space Research Institute : position-sensitive detectors and energetic neutral atoms behind the Iron Curtain. Interstellar Trail Press.
ISBN979-8-9856687-0-4.
OCLC1310323554.
Gruntman, Mike (2022). Fundamentals of space missions : problems with solutions. Interstellar Trail Press.
ISBN979-8-9856687-4-2.
^Gruntman, M. A., Roelof, E. C., Mitchell, D. G., Fahr, H.-J., Funsten, H. O., and McComas, D. J., “Energetic Neutral Atom Imaging of the Heliospheric Boundary Region,” J. Geophys. Res.106(A8), 15,767–15,758 (2001).
^Brandt, P.C.; Mitchell, D.G.; Roelof, E.C.; Krimigis, S.M.; Paranicas, C.P.; Mauk, B.H.; Saur, J.; DeMajistre, R. (2005).
"ENA Imaging: Seeing the Invisible"(PDF). Johns Hopkins APL Technical Digest. 26 (2): 143–155. Archived from
the original(PDF) on 2012-11-04. Retrieved 2018-12-02.
^Pollock, C.J.; Asamura, K.; Baldonado, J.; Balkey, M.M.; Barker, P.; Burch, J.L.; Korpela, E.J.; Cravens, J.; Dirks, G.; Fok, M.-C.; Funsten, H.O.; Grande, M.; Gruntman, M.; Hanley, J.; Jahn, J.-M.; Jenkins, M.; Lampton, M.; Marckwordt, M.; McComas, D.J.; Mukai, T.; Penegor, G.; Pope, S.; Ritzau, S.; Schattenburg, M.L.; Scime, E.; Skoug, R.; Spurgeon, W.; Stecklein, T.; Storms, S.; Urdiales, C.; Valek, P.; van Beek, J.T.M.; Weidner, S.E.; Wüest, M.; Young, M.K.; Zinsmeyer, C. (2000). "Medium energy neutral atom (MENA) imager for the IMAGE mission". Space Science Reviews. 91 (1/2): 113–154.
Bibcode:
2000SSRv...91..113P.
doi:
10.1023/A:1005259324933.
S2CID16341054.
^Pollock, C. J.; Asamura, K.; Balkey, M. M.; Burch, J. L.; Funsten, H. O.; Grande, M.; Gruntman, M.; Henderson, M.; Jahn, J.-M.; Lampton, M.; Liemohn, M. W.; McComas, D. J.; Mukai, T.; Ritzau, S.; Schattenburg, M. L.; Scime, E.; Skoug, R.; Valek, P.; Wüest, M. (15 March 2001). "First medium energy neutral atom (MENA) Images of Earth's magnetosphere during substorm and storm-time". Geophysical Research Letters. 28 (6): 1147–1150.
Bibcode:
2001GeoRL..28.1147P.
doi:
10.1029/2000GL012641.
S2CID1604349.
^Gruntman, Mike (2007). "The Time for Academic Departments in Astronautical Engineering". AIAA SPACE 2007 Conference & Exposition.
doi:
10.2514/6.2007-6042.
ISBN978-1-62410-016-1.
^Gruntman, Mike (2010). Enemy amongst Trojans : a Soviet spy at USC. Figueroa Press.
ISBN978-1-932800-74-6.
^Gruntman, M. (Dec 2015).
"Studies in Intelligence"(PDF). Journal of the American Intelligence Professional (Declassified). 59 (5): 74. Archived from
the original(PDF) on March 5, 2016.