Auction of Soviet Vostok Spacecraft

Sotheby's will be auctioning the former Soviet Union's Vostok 3KA-2 spacecraft in New York City on April 12, 2011. The Vostok 3KA-2 was a test spacecraft, used to ensure the safety of the craft that was to launch cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin into Earth orbit.

Gagarin was the first person to journey into space, on a Vostok 3KA-3 spacecraft known as the Vostok 1.

The Vostok 3KA-2, also known as Korabl-Sputnik-5 by the Soviets, and as Sputnik 10 in the West, was launched into orbit carrying a dog named Zvezdochka, or Zvyozdochka ("Little Star") and a dummy astronaut on March 25, 1961.  It circled the Earth once and then returned to Earth safely.  However, the bottom half of the craft was scorched as it passed through Earth's atmosphere.

Gagarin's historic flight place took place on April 12, 1961. The Sotheby's auction will take place exactly fifty years later.

The Vostok 3KA-2 spacecraft that is being auctioned now belongs to an anonymous owner who purchased it from Russia a few years ago.

Sotheby's estimates that the spacecraft will sell for between 2 and 10 million dollars.