Yuri Gagarin’s first flight records to cross the block

A set of English records on Yuri Gagarin’s first space flight are coming to auction at Sotheby’s.

The document dates to 1961 and includes five photographs.

It was put together for submission to the Federation Aeronautique Internationale, but as it contains a number of spelling mistakes it was reprinted.

Yuri Gagarin records

Memorabilia associated with Yuri Gagarin sells for much more than other Soviet space memorabilia

It includes the first English language description of the Earth from space: “The Earth had a very distinct and pretty halo.

“This halo could be clearly seen when looking at the horizon. It had a smooth transition from pale blue to blue, dark blue, violet and absolutely black. It was a magnificent picture."

Gagarin was the first person  to leave Earth’s atmosphere and so holds a special position in the history of the space race.

As Sotheby’s puts it: “The ‘records file on the first flight by the USSR citizen cosmonaut Yuri Alexeyevich Gagarin’ is one of the great records of space history and human achievement: a documentary monument from the dawn of the space age, and—with Gagarin’s own signed statement on his mission—a narrative to stand with explorations and voyages of Columbus, Vespucci, and Magellan.”

The lot is expected to sell for around $50,000-80,000.

A bag Neil Armstrong used to collect samples of Moon rock during the Apollo 11 mission is expected to achieve $2m-4m, a sum that would make it the most valuable piece of space memorabilia ever sold.

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