Sotheby’s posted archival Russian film of the launch and recovery of the space capsule that proved to the cosmonuats they could orbit the earth and make it back alive. As reported earlier, the 7-foot aluminum capsule, Vostok 3ka-2, will be auctioned April 12 in New York. The guessestimate is $2–$10 Million.
The footage shows the March 25, 1961, blast off and recovery, which included a life sized dummy and a cute dog that appeared unaffected by the trip. Later the Russians removed the instrumentation for “security” reasons, but the scorched capsule, itself, will be sold intact. It is virtually identical to the Vostok 3ka-3 that took up Yuri Gagarin three weeks later to become the first man in space. Watch the footage in the VIDEOS AROUND THE WEB section. (1:40)
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