Space Shuttle Horizontal Situation Indicators
Well, okay, the Space Shuttle can have a lot of pretty engineering as well, not just Apollo.
The Space Shuttle was a “plane” of sorts, for the last few minutes of its mission at least. And as such, the cockpit was modeled after standard aviation instruments and layout. There were three main instruments on the front panel. This one is a “Horizontal Situation Indicator” or “HSI”. It was used to indicate the heading towards the primary airfield and a backup in case the the first one was unavailable.
The shuttle HSI is virtually identical to the standard aircraft unit and should be instantly recognizable to any seasoned pilot.
In the late 90s the shuttle fleet received a wholesale upgrade to a “glass cockpit” which means getting rid of the old electromechanical displays and replacing them with video screens. The actual graphics were identical to the original hardware, just easier to maintain.
Interestingly though, for all of the old displays that would have been removed from the spacecraft, multiple simulators and part-task trainers, spares, defective units, very few have come to the collectors market, but a recent one sold for over $30,000.
The attitude display, the “8-ball,” was virtually identical to the lunar module units and are highly desirable to the collector.
