Auction Name: 2025 December 11 - 12 Space Exploration Signature® Auction

Lot Number: 50024

Shortcut to Lot: HA.com/6326*50024

Vostok 2: Records File on the Space Flight by the USSR Citizen German Stepanovich Titov, Made On August 6-7, 1961, On Spaceship-Sputnik "Vostok-2," with the First Images of Earth from Space, Signed by Gherman Titov. (Moscow: USSR Central Aero Club V. P. Tchkalov, 1961). A 9" x 12" book bound in rich burgundy leatherette, gilt-lettered in both Russian and English, with the embossed logo of the Central Aero Club, inside covers in silk moiré. Printed on heavy cream stock, each page within a decorative border. Text in Russian. Nineteen numbered pages plus title page, with seven additional pages featuring B&W and color photos mounted, recto only. Signed by numerous Soviet officials and Titov. Excellent.

An extraordinary and official Soviet-issued record file documenting Major Gherman Stepanovich Titov's historic Vostok-2 mission, the second human spaceflight in history. Produced in 1961 by the USSR Central Aero Club named after Valery Chkalov, this elaborately printed volume certifies the flight's world records and preserves Titov's own detailed post-flight report. The opening record sheet lists Vostok-2's established world records for flight duration, orbital range, and class of orbit, followed by the spacecraft specifications and propulsion details. Subsequent pages reproduce Titov's official report, authentically signed "Г. С. ТИТОВ," recounting his 25-hour mission in vivid detail, from launch and orbit insertion to visual observations of Earth, manual spacecraft control, and his safe parachute landing after re-entry.

Launched four months after Yuri Gagarin, Vostok-2 marked the first full-day orbital flight of a human and proved the feasibility of prolonged space missions. At just 25 years old, Titov became the youngest person ever to fly in space, a record that still stands. His mission also achieved the first manual control of a spacecraft, the first sleep in space, and extensive physiological studies that informed all subsequent Soviet flight protocols. This record book represents the official Soviet archival documentation of those achievements. Copies such as this seldom appear on the market, particularly in such well-preserved condition.

This amazing book has four glossy color photos (pages 16-19) featuring frames of motion picture film taken for the first time from aboard the spacecraft-satellite Vostok-2 by pilot-cosmonaut G. S. Titov. Titov's onboard use of a 35mm Konvas movie camera marked a historic first: the earliest human-shot film of Earth from orbit, preceding later footage from Vostok-3 and American Mercury missions.

Such "Records Files" were produced in extremely limited numbers, likely only for official archives, senior Soviet institutions, and international presentation copies for the FAI. This example, complete and in excellent condition, is a rare artifact from the dawn of human spaceflight, documenting the Soviet Union's effort to formalize and publicize its achievements in the Space Race. From an important collection of Soviet-era Space history

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