Dumitru-Dorin Prunariu is a Romanian cosmonaut. He flew in space aboard Soyuz 40 spacecraft and Salyut 6 space laboratory. He was in team with another Romanian cosmonaut called Dumitru Dediu.
Soyuz 40 was the 16th and final mission to visit the Salyut 6 space station. It carried the the EP-10 crew, which visited the long-duration Soyuz T-4 resident crew. The mission began on May 14, 1981, 17:16:38 UTC, launching Commander Leonid Popov and Research Cosmonaut Dumitru Prunariu, the first Romanian cosmonaut, into orbit. They docked with the station the next day. During their 7-day stay on the station, EP-10 crew conducted Earth observation, material, medical and other experiments, including Earth magnetic field and space radiation study. The mission concluded with a safe landing back on Earth on May 22, 1981, 13:58:30 UTC.
Low Earth OrbitThe Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities, commonly known as Roscosmos, is the governmental body responsible for the space science program of the Russian Federation and general aerospace research. Soyuz has many launch locations the Russian sites are Baikonur, Plesetsk and Vostochny however Ariane also purchases the vehicle and launches it from French Guiana.