Dumitru Dediu (12 May 1942 in Galaţi – July 2013) was a pilot in the

Romanian Air Force The Romanian Air Force (RoAF) ( ro, Forțele Aeriene Române) is the air force branch of the Romanian Armed Forces. It has an air force headquarters, an operational command, five airbases and an air defense brigade. Reserve forces include one ai ...

and cosmonaut candidate that was assigned as the backup for

Dumitru Prunariu Dumitru-Dorin Prunariu (; born 27 September 1952) is a Romanian cosmonaut. He flew in space aboard Soyuz 40 spacecraft and Salyut 6 space laboratory. He teamed with the Soviet cosmonaut Leonid Popov. The backup crew was made of Romanian candidat ...

Information

In 1978, Dediu was selected as the backup for

for the

Soyuz 40 The Soyuz 40 mission was a 1981 Soviet crewed spaceflight and the final flight of the Soyuz 7K-T spacecraft. It was a collaboration between the Soviet Union and Romania.The mission report is available here: http://www.spacefacts.de/mission/english ...

mission. He served in the

Romanian Army The Romanian Land Forces ( ro, Forțele Terestre Române) is the army of Romania, and the main component of the Romanian Armed Forces. In recent years, full professionalisation and a major equipment overhaul have transformed the nature of the Lan ...

and lived in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

. He died in early July 2013 after a serious illness (Alzheimer's and Parkinson's). He was buried on July 11, 2013.

References

1942 births 2013 deaths People from Galați Romanian Air Force officers Romanian cosmonauts {{Romania-mil-bio-stub