Romanian Cosmonaut Dumitru -Dorin Prunariu is the first Romanian to fly in space. On May 14, 1981, Prunariu launched into space with Russian Cosmonaut Leonid Popov aboard Soyuz 40 and stayed eight days on Salyut 6 space station.  Prunariu conducted scientific experiments, including the exploration of Earth`s magnetic field.

Prunariu graduated from Politehnica University of Bucharest with a degree in aeronautical engineering in 1976, then worked as an engineer at IAR Brasov, an aircraft industry facility.