Two space memorabilia auctions set for the second week of May will offer collectors, investors and even gift shop-seeking space tourists the chance to bid on everything from autographs and medallions to spacesuits -- and even spacecraft.

Superior Galleries' sale, May 5 and 6, will mark only the second time a manned spacecraft has been publicly auctioned. (The first, the Soyuz TM-10, was sold by Sotheby's in 1993 for $1.65 million). Expected to sell for over $2 million, the Soyuz TM-26 descent capsule is similar to one that will be used to bring Tito and his two Russian comrades back home -- though this one was launched in August 1997 to the then-crippled Mir space station. Cosmonauts Anatoly Solovyov and Pavel Vinogradov returned to Earth aboard the capsule after spending 197 days, 17 hours and 35 minutes in space.

"This is a historic piece of equipment, which comes 'fully loaded' and includes an invitation for two to attend a Russian space launch, a guided VIP tour of Star City and a tour of RSC Energia," described Michael Orenstein, vice president of the Beverly Hills firm. "Perhaps even more important, all shipping, packing and customs detail will be handled free of charge to the winning bidder."

Other items to be auctioned during the two-day event -- hosted at the Santa Monica Museum of Flying -- are: an original die proof for the first lunar landing's mission plaque, the autographs of all 12 Americans to walk on the Moon, both a Martian and lunar meteorite (the latter estimated to sell for $25,000 to $35,000) and the spacecraft key to the ill-fated Apollo 1 command module, presented by North American Aviation to the late astronaut Edward White. (White died when a fire broke out inside the spacecraft during an on the pad test).

"This sale marks a milestone of sorts," continued Orenstein. "This being the mythical year of Arthur C. Clarke's futuristic look into deep space and man's never-ending search for the heavens, we, too, are looking ahead to the future."

If Superior's 2,855 lots were not enough, collectors will have a second opportunity to bid on space history a few days later in New York City.

On May 9, Christie's East will offer over 350 rare space artifacts taken directly from the personal collections of astronauts Buzz Aldrin, Alan Bean, Eugene Cernan, Charles Duke, Charles Conrad, Gordon Cooper, Walter Schirra, Thomas Stafford and James Irwin.

Timed to mark the 40th anniversaries of the first human space flights by the former Soviet Union and the United States (Yuri Gagarin in April and Alan Shepard in May, respectively), Christie's is highlighting the inclusion of a report describing the premier Russian flight by none other than the first cosmonaut himself.

Estimated to sell between $150,000 and $200,000, the original typescript by Gagarin was written only three days after his single orbit on April 12, 1961. In the course of three pages, Gagarin discusses an array of topics such as his initial training, the effect of weightlessness on the body and the experience of landing. In closing, he describes the emotion of seeing Planet Earth from space -- the sight of which he was the first human to behold: "The Earth has a very beautiful blue halo..., a smooth color transition from tender blue, to blue, to dark blue and purple and then to the completely black color of the sky."

Further highlights include an early exhibition duplicate of Sputnik 1, the Moon dust-stained spacesuit patches of Apollo 15 Moonwalker James Irwin and one of 10 traverse charts used by the Apollo 16 astronauts while driving the lunar rover. The latter -- expected to sell for over $100,000 -- is also purported to be soiled by lunar material.