Russian 'Vostok 3KA-2' Space Capsule

According to a spokeswoman for Sotheby's, a 1961 Soviet space capsule that transported a cosmonaut mannequin and a real dog into space was sold for $2.9 million in 2011. Russian businessman Evgeny Yurchenko purchased the Vostok 3KA-2, according to Sotheby's David Redden. He stated that the whole amount included the buyer's premium.

The capsule, composed of aluminum alloy and measuring little over 7 feet in diameter, was used as a test run for the spaceship that transported the first man into space. 20 days before Gagarin's historic first human spaceflight aboard the Vostok 1 spacecraft, the Vostok 3KA-2 space capsule was launched into space. A life-size mannequin named Ivan Ivanovich and a dog named Zvezdochka were aboard the unmanned Vostok 3KA-2 capsule ("Little Star" in Russian). The capsule completed one orbit before landing in a snow-covered ravine near the Soviet town of Izhvesk, opening the way for Gagarin's historic journey in an exact replica of the spacecraft.

Price: $2.9 million