Dumitru-Dorin Prunariu
Dumitru-Dorin Prunariu is a Romanian aerospace engineer, Air Force officer, diplomat, and Intercosmos cosmonaut who became the first Romanian citizen in space. His Soyuz 40 mission was the final flight of the original Soyuz 7K-T spacecraft and the last Soyuz docking with Salyut 6.
- Born
- September 27, 1952
- Died
- N/A
- Birthplace
- Brașov,Romanian People's Republic
Flights
1
Spacewalks
N/A
EVA time
N/A
In space
7 days, 20 hours, 42 minutes
Bio
Prunariu studied aerospace engineering at the Politehnica University of Bucharest and worked in Romanian aircraft manufacturing before entering Air Force and Intercosmos training. He was selected for the joint Soviet-Romanian mission after several years of preparation.
Soyuz 40 launched in May 1981 with Soviet Leonid Popov. During the Salyut 6 visit, Prunariu carried out Romanian and Soviet scientific experiments in astrophysics, , space medicine, biology, and space technology.
After spaceflight, Prunariu remained an important figure in Romanian and international space policy. His later work included diplomatic service, leadership in Romanian space organizations, and roles connected to United Nations space policy.