space capsule

Sotheby's To Auction Off Russian Space Capsule

Filed under: Auctions

We're assuming it will end up in a museum but if not, someone's going to need a lot of space to show off this auction lot. Sotheby's New York is selling off the Vostok 3KA-2 Space Capsule on April 12 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of man's first flight into outer space. On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin rocketed out of the Earth's atmosphere aboard the small, spherical Vostok 3KA-3 Space Capsule (later renamed Vostok 1). Two weeks before that, this capsule, the Vostok 3KA-2 carrying a life-sized mannequin and a dog, Zvezdochka, was sent into low Earth orbit, and reentered on its first pass over the Russia 115 minutes later paving the way for Gagarin's historic mission. The capsule is estimated at $2-$10 million and is currently on public display in Sotheby's York Avenue galleries.

Five Vostok-type capsules were launched in 1960-61. Two were destroyed but one, carrying the dogs Belka and Strelka, demonstrated that living creatures could return safely from orbit. Vostok 3KA-2 went into space on March 25, 1961. After completing an orbit around the earth the mannequin was ejected from the landing as planned and the dog landed safely. The life-size cosmonaut mannequin, nicknamed Ivan Ivanovich, has been on exhibition at the Smithsonian National Art & Space Museum since 1997.

Tags: russian space capsule, sothebys, space capsule, vostok