Soyuz 'Globus' Mechanical Navigation Computer Part 1: Grand Opening

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[t.d.]

I do own a Yak-52, a small russian trainer aircraft from 1980. Made in the former red star countries. Instruments are the same as on the Migs, Tanks and some Sojuz parts like the round instruments and some switches/fuses. They used the same design and parts for 50 years on all vehicles. Simple and reliable, I can smell this Globus from 8000miles away. Same paint, screws, finish, metal. This Globus is like the holy grail, its marvelous, 100% hand made mechanical wonder. Comes right after the antikythera mechanism.

[aimver]

Technically, it's an artifact of a highly advanced lost civilization.

[Dennis-ucgm]

An electro - mechanical work of art. A cross between the watch maker's world and an electrical engineer's.

[manny_f]

It's incredible what people did in the past without CAD/CAM, a true engineering masterpiece.

[madmax]

There's just something about mechanical devices like this, they're a thing of beauty inside.

[HecTepoB_C]

Мог ли я представить раньше, когда собирал на заводе подобные штуки, что потом кто то будет их с таким интересом разбирать и рассматривать? В перчатках!

[_..---]

What brilliant mechanisms people had to come up with because of the technology available at the time, definitely a good idea to show the inner workings and preserve this knowledge for future generations.

[liberatetutemeexinferis]

Analog no matter how old is still a thing of beauty.

[josdesouza]

How can one jam such a device? The answer is: one can't! It takes a lot of deeply learned knowledge to make a seemingly primitive and cumbersome contraption like that work at a very sophisticated level. Kudos to Soviet engineers and workers who made them!

[IanGorboun]

Ребята, вы молодцы! Благодаря вам, старые, очень сложные и редкие вещи снова живут и на них можно посмотреть. Класс!

[blackbelly]

я видел подобный навигационный компьютер лишь в двух местах- в музее космонавтики на ВДНХ и в музее Циолковского в Калуге. И каждый раз меня впечатляла тонкость работы, облаченная в до боли родные стальные корпуса, покрытые молотковой краской и бакелитовые детали. спасибо за видео, вы исполнили мальчишескую мечту- разобрали сложнейший интересный механизм)

[KirbyZhang]

imagine if digital computers were never invented, these amazing devices would be everywhere.

[marinoceccotti]

This thing is a masterpiece, the equivalent of the astronomical clocks of the XIVth century or the Antikythera mechanism: The pinnacle of their time's technology.

[markmark]

I have a three volume set titled "Ingenious Mechanisms For Designers and Inventors" published in 1930 and edited by Franklin D. Jones. Anyone who has worked in machinery design can appreciate the hours of partially sleepless nights lying in bed thinking about efficient component relationships to control and transfer motion, of which, these volumes are goldmines. I can only imagine the "feeling/emotions" the engineers and watchmakers had that were challenged with the creation of this device...and the satisfaction of completing a working model...

[АндрейВолгин-дд]

Шикарный прибор, спасибо за то что показали как он устроен.

[matteotornazzi]

Today computers can design digital circuits. I would like to see if an (I.A.) could design ('imagine') something like this! What a piece of art!!

[alexd.]

These are true masterpieces and feats of engineering. Now everything is driven by software (CAD, OpenAi, algorithms, etc.)

[fredericlepeltier]

The ingenuity of the "Globus" amaze me since the first time i saw it in one of the recent movies avout the soviet space progam.
The critical information aka where you are or where you are gonna land is presented in such an intuitive way.
The fact that you can switch beetween the two modes remind me of the TDC (torpedoe date computer), an electro mechanical targetng computer and early bomb sight of the same technology that could perform both CCRP (Continuesly Calculated Release Point) and CCIP (Cont..; Calcul...Impact Point) computing.
All those devices had to solve the same type of geometric and dynamic problems.

Little known fact : When NASA set up the its network of relay sation during the 60s at the heart of the space race it did offer the USSR the ability to use it which was refused.
Even then russian spacecraft had instructions in english outside the spacecraft in case it had to land ouside soviet territory, preferably on us soil which might seems counter intuitive in retrospect.
Also there was a NASA/state memorandum that if a soviet craft landed on US soil it was to be treated the same as a diplomatic vehicle.
That might explain why NASA stations were marked on the globe even before joint missions were a thing, just in case they had to communicate during an ermergency their intent to land on US soil. Just my 2 cents.

[_techana]

WoW! I envy you guys for having the opportunity to play with these amazing nostalgic toys.

[I]

Absolutely amazing mechanism. Thanks for making these, Marc. I loved your teletype series, I couldn't get enough of the beautiful mechanisms in those machines. And now this - excellent!