Guest: Dr. Mike Gruntman; Topics: Mike discussed his two new books (see tags for titles). Our guest compared and contrasted the Soviet space system and rockets with the same for today's Russia. He talked about the history behind and roots for Soviet space problems today. Also the war in Ukraine, China, security issues & more.
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We welcomed Dr. Mike Gruntman back to the program to discuss his two new books, "My Fifteen Years at IKI, The Space Research Institute: Position-Sensitive Detectors and Energetic Neutral Atoms Behind the Iron Curtain" and "Fundamentals of Space Missions: Problems with Solutions." In addition, Mike led off with a brief introduction and then a discussion about the USC Dept. of Astronautical Engineering, department and student accomplishments, programs and more. Check out the website at http://astronauticsnow.com.
Mike had quite a bit to say about both books which were very different from one another. Should you purchase one or both of the books through Amazon, be sure to use the OGLF/Space Show link so that Amazon will donate a portion of the purchase price to The Space Show. During this early part of the program Mike not only described the academics but also the student mix, their work opportunities in the industry, plus he did a lot of comparing and contrasting the old Soviet space program to Russia's program of today. Note what he said about today's problems and challenges and how they had their roots back in the Soviet days and the actual collapse of the Soviet Union.
For the remainder of the program, Mike talked about the geopolitical issues of today including the Ukrainian-Russian war. Mike updated us on Ukrainian space assets and the importance of Ukraine at one time to the Soviet and even the Russian rocket program. This led to Mike commenting and asking questions, from his perspective, about China and Russia, a possible collaboration, Russia's military capability today, quality control issues and Russia as an adversary. Before ending our program, Mike was asked if he thought Russia could have the type of technology shown by the Tic Tac type of UAV's reported over recent years by the Navy. Don't miss his answer to that one as it might surprise you.
Please post your comments/questions for Dr. Gruntman on this blog. You can reach him through me or his faculty page at USC.