Soyuz Globus World Map
One of the trademarks of the Soviet spacecraft is a particularly useful device called the “Globus.” It is a simple mechanical globe showing where exactly the spacecraft was. Starting with the first flight of Vostok 1 up to recent times, the Globus has been virtually unchanged until the Soyuz spacecraft was finally outfitted with more modern digital displays.
On the collectors market the Globus is highly prized. I got this off of eBay for a little less the a recently auctioned display. Sometime later the gent I bought it from told me he and recently received the panel it came from but no one wanted to buy the panel without the Globus.
Lucky me! Perhaps one of the weirdest things I picked up from eBay.
I’ve been hoping to find a way to get the lights to illuminate but no luck so far.
Interestingly enough two of the six Mercury spacecraft had something similar, called the Earth Path Indicator, or EPI. Both Gus Grissom’s Liberty Bell 7 and John Glenn’s Friendship 7 had the EPI. The other spacecraft had an empty slot where it was supposed to go. These displays are so rare, one recently was sold at auction for over $74,000.
Top Photo: ©2020 by Mike Smithwick
