Happy birthday, cosmonaut Leonid Popov!

Leonid Popov, born August 31, 1945 in the Ukraine in the former Soviet Union, is a veteran of three Soyuz flights.  Selected as a cosmonaut in 1970, he flew his first mission on Soyuz 35 as commander in June 1980 to Salyut 6.  He returned to Earth on Soyuz 37 in October 1980.

His second flight was aboard Soyuz 40 as commander in May 1981 to Salyut 6.  It was a cooperation between the Soviet Union and Romania, with cosmonaut Dumitru Prunariu.  It was also the last flight of that type Soyuz spacecraft.

His third and final flight was as commander aboard Soyuz T-7 launched in August 1982 to Salyut 7.  Svetlana Savitskaya, the second woman in space, was also on board.  He returned to Earth on Soyuz T-5 later that month.

He has logged over 200 days in space.

Soyuz 40 launched 1981

Soyuz 40 crew: Leonid Popov, Dumitru Prunariu

Mission patch

Soyuz 40, launched May 14, 1981, was the final flight of the Soyuz 7K-T spacecraft, since it was being replaced by the newer, better Soyuz-T.  It was also the last spacecraft to dock with Salyut 6.

Its crew consisted of Commander Leonid Popov and Romanian cosmonaut Dumitru Prunariu.  They returned to Earth almost 8 days later on May 22.

Happy birthday, Romanian cosmonaut Dumitru Prunariu!

Dumitru Prunariu, born September 27, 1952 in Brasov, Romania, is the first and only Romanian cosmonaut.  He made one trip into space aboard Soyuz 40 in May 1981 to Salyut 6.  It was the last mission of the original Soyuz spacecraft since it was replaced by the Soyuz-T.