Dumitru Prunariu, the only Romanian who flew into space was decorated by the Russian President, Dmitri Medvedev in a ceremony organized at Kremlin. The ceremony marked 50 years since the first flight into space on April 12, 1961 by Yuri Gagarin, Romanian news agency Agerpres reports.

Medvedev offered Prunariu a medal of achievements in conquering the space. Another 14 citizens across other Russian states, like the US, Japan, France, Germany, Belgium, Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia were honored with the same distinction. It is a great honor to receive such a distinction from the Russian President on this memorable day, Prunariu said for Agerpres. Prunariu was in the past Romania’s Ambassador to Moscow.

Prunariu is the only Romanian who made it into space on May 1981. The Romanian astronaut made several scientific experiments in the fields of astrophysics, cosmic radiations, medicine, and biology.

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