Top 5 most expensive items of space memorabilia

Earth's first spaceship became the most expensive space artefact last year - what else is in the top 5?

2011 saw a new world record set for space memorabilia by the Vostok 3KA-2 test space capsule.

Here, Paul Fraser Collectibles takes a look at the top 5 most expensive items of space memorabilia to have ever sold at auction…

5) Navigational chart from Apollo 11 - $218,000

This chart was used by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to determine their exact position on the moon's surface during the Apollo 11 mission. 

4) Alexei Leonov's Apollo-Soyuz suit - $242,000

This spacesuit was worn by Russian cosmonaut Alexei Leonov during the 1975 Soyuz mission.

Alexei Leonov's Sokol K spacesuit

Leonov was the first man to conduct a spacewalk, when he stepped outside the Voshkod 2 for over 12 minutes in 1965.

The suit sold for $242,000 in May 2011.

3) Attitude Control Joystick from the Falcon Lunar Module of Apollo 15 - $327,870

This piece of flight control equipment was used to control the landing of Apollo 15. It activated four sets of four 100-pound Marquardt rocket engines and worked with the semi-automatic onboard computers' steering calculations and engine thrust-on commands.

The Falcon lunar module's Attitude Control joystick from Apollo 15 (£206,000)

The joystick, which spent over 66 hours on the moon's surface inside Falcon, sold for £206,000 ($327,870) in 2009.

2) Jim Lovell's notebook from Apollo 13 - $388,375

This notebook was used by Lovell to make calculations which would ensure the safe return of the Apollo 13 crew after the mission was aborted. These calculations were then checked by Nasa before the crew headed home.

The notebook, which came from Lovell's personal collection, sold for $388,375 in December 2011.

1) Vostok 3KA-2 test space capsule - $2.9m

This test capsule was sent up to orbit three weeks prior to Yuri Gagarin becoming the first man in space.

The Vostok capsule sold for $2.9m

The capsule was inhabited by Zvezdochka the dog and Ivan Ivanovich the life sized dummy. It completed a single orbit of the Earth on March 25, 1961. Both Zvezdochka and Ivan Ivanovich were recovered safely.

The capsule became the most expensive piece of space memorabilia ever sold, in April 2011, when it achieved $2.9m at Sotheby's.

Recent and related articles

$2.9m Vostok test capsule rockets to space memorabilia World Record | 13 April 2011

Astronaut Scholarship Fund auction stars $16,100 MIR space suit | 19 March 2012

Buzz Aldrin signed 'Earthrise' photo auctions for astronaut fund | 13 March 2012

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Images: Bonhams, Heritage Auction Galleries, Sotheby's