Announcements

The Road to Space: The First Thousand Years

An AIAA Distinguished Speaker Lecture, via Zoom

Wednesday, August 13th, 2025

presented by

Dr. Mike Gruntman, Professor of Aeronautics at USC

This 70-80 minute lecture presents the fascinating history of early rocketry and subsequent developments that led to the space age. It introduces visionaries, scientists, engineers, and political and military leaders from various lands who contributed to this endeavor. The development of rocketry and spaceflight is traced from ancient times through many centuries to the breakthrough to space. The story concludes with the launches of the first artificial satellites in the late 1950s. Based on an award-winning AIAA-published book. 

Mike Gruntman is professor and chair of astronautics at the University of Southern California (USC). His life journey took him from a child growing on the Tyuratam (Baikonur) missile and space launch base during the late 1950s and early 1960s, to an accomplished space physicist and engineer, to joining USC in 1990 and founding a major educational program in space engineering. Today it is a nationally recognized unique astronautical engineering department at USC. 

Dr. Gruntman is actively involved in R&D programs in space science and space technology. He served as a co-investigator (Co-I) on NASA missions and is a recipient of three NASA Group Achievement Awards. He has authored and co-authored 300 scholarly publications, including four books. His "Blazing the Trail: The Early History of Spacecraft and Rocketry" (AIAA, 2004) won the International Academy of Astronautics book award. More than two thousand graduate students have taken Dr. Gruntman’s courses in space systems and rocket propulsion at USC. He also teaches short courses (AIAA and ATI) for government and industry.

Dr. Gruntman is an AIAA Associate Fellow and Member (Academician) of the International Academy of Astronautics.  

The presentation will be on Wednesday, August 13th, 2025 from 12:00 PM to 1:20 PM PDT via Zoom. The Zoom link for the meeting is below.