Extremely rare artefact:

Mir Expedition 21 Soyuz TM-23 Cosmonaut Yuri Usatchev Flown Orlan gloves bear Mir stamps, numbers and drawings.

Condition:

The palm and fingertips are covered with pebbled orange rubber, which became kind of dry and frangible, and lost some rubber pebbles over the time during the storage.

Explanations of gloves drawings:

The figures are communication sessions-the beginning and the end, others with balls-light and shadow during the time of spacewalk. Where the arrow is, there is either light or shadow. Green lines - the route of passage along the surface of the station near the zone where work is to be done. This is a kind of cribs, which the crew used on spacewalks.

Some information about this unique artifact:

That’s what Yuri Usachev wrote in his book "Dairy of cosmonaut: three lives in space" about the preparation for his first spacewalk using this pair of Orlan gloves. Page. 94.

Original book "Dairy of cosmonaut: three lives in space" in Cyrillic is included. Book dedicated to Alex.

“ Aleksandr! Wishing you good luck and invite you to to fly. From author. Yuri Usatchev (signature)”

Translation of this page:

...Everything is prepared - including the "arrow", the instrument, and the spacesuits. Everything seems to be Ok, but again and again we are flying into the SSR, checking the bundles of "arrows", the state of spacesuits and the Gateway compartment for reliability. Today, Sasha Sergatskov is the Main Communications Operator, had suggested a 6:00 PM communication session via Sputnik - but the repeater did not go out, wanting to give us a little more sleep before going out.

Intensive work on the preparation of the complex communication facilities will begin in 22 hours; now is a personal time, we once again looked at fragments of the Onboard Documentation on the lock, remembering how we were trained to be locked inside a pressure chamber at Chkalovskaya, and what cases on the lock were before us.

And outside the window Africa in all its glory, the hollow of El Rishat.

I Wrote on gloves the times of connection and shadow - may be useful if there are problems with communication with the FCC (Flight Control Center).

No fear. The case, of course, is risky, but there is no fear. I have not done everything in this life yet, I still have many unanswered questions, I still have much to do for the two people closest to me, so I'll be cautious at the exit and try to help Yury as much as possible. Perhaps tomorrow, I will have a slightly different look at this problem, and it will not seem so serious, and this reasoning will seem a little ridiculous, but it will be tomorrow, and today let me be a little ridiculous and naive than a stupid, cheerful.

Tomorrow, I will definitely tell you what it's like to go into outer space for us, the "Scythians" - the crew of the 21st main expedition at the MIR station…”

Characteristics of Oral Space suit gloves:

The Orlan spacesuit is a special equipment used by cosmonauts to go into space. In open space, the spacesuit protects the cosmonauts from:

• low barometric pressure;

 • ionizing radiation;

• radiant energy of the Sun;

 • micrometeors.

 The Orlan spacesuit successfully operated on the Salyut and Mir long-term orbital stations and currently in use on International Space Station.

The Orlan gloves consist of two different gloves.

The protective glove, an outer shell made of phenylone and a nylon gasket, provides heat protection of the hand and protects the power and sealed shell from mechanical damage.

To improve the tactility, rubber caps are installed at the ends of the fingers of the protective shell. On the palm and palms of the fingers of the protective glove, there are pads made of "lumpy" rubber, designed to improve the protective properties and contact with objects. To facilitate bending of the fingers, the back of the glove is made in the form of folds. The gaiter of the protective glove covers the wrist joint and the glove connector, partially extending over the sleeve of the spacesuit.

 The glove connector is designed to connect the glove to the sleeve sealed wrist bearing. The connection is carried out by means of a 4-lock ring mounted on a rubber sheath. The ring is double sealed and has a closed position lock.

 The main (outer) hermetic shell is made of natural rubber by dipping, 0.6mm thick and has phalanx hinges in the form of "crusts" (protrusions) to facilitate bending on the back of the fingers. The reserve (inner) hermetic shell is made of rubberized fabric and comes into operation automatically when the main one fails. The inner hermetic shell is attached to the main glove at the connector to the base of the fingers.

The power shell of the wrist part is put on over the rubber and prevents it from inflating under excessive pressure, and also serves as the basis for the hinges of the fingers

 The power shell of the wrist part (on the part of the fingers) on the palmar side is made of nylon fabric, and on the back of a special fabric with spandex. Spandex fabric stretches well when flexing / squeezing the hand and serves as a base for the finger pivots. To further reduce the bending moment of the hinges of the fingers, it is made longer and assembled in folds on power tapes running along the sides of the fingers along the neutral bending axes at the junction of the palmar and back parts of the power shell.

 The power system of the wrist is sewn onto the power sheath and consists of a power system of fingers made of narrow ribbons with low elongation running along the sides of the fingers, as well as cords laid between the fingers.

A palmar frame is installed on top of the load-bearing shell as part of the load-bearing system. It partially duplicates the force sheath, provides a bend of the hand in the required direction and creates a concave shape for the palmar part. The frame is made of steel hardened wire and on the back side is connected with a nylon tape with a textile fastener, which allows you to adjust the girth of the hand or replace the frame with another size, if necessary.

The wrist joint of the glove is made in the form of a set of steel rings and provides flexion-extension and abduction - adduction of the hand. To reduce the bending moment across the hinge, strength elements are placed between the rings, creating roll-over corrugations.

Some information about Soyuz TM-23/ Mir Expedition  21 mission:

Soyuz TM-23 was launched on February 21, 1996, to Space Station Mir with cosmonauts Yuri Onufrienko and Yuri Usachev. The crew of Soyuz TM-23 became the 21st resident crew of Mir Station.

One month later, cosmonaut  Ushatchev and Onufriyenko were joined by NASA astronaut Shannon Lucid. During Mir-21 Usachev performed numerous research experiments. The new module Priroda , the seventh and final module of the Mir Space Station arrived on April 26, 1996.

Its primary purpose was to conduct Earth resource experiments through remote sensing and to develop and verify remote sensing methods. During Mir EO-21 supplies arrived with the Progress M-31 spacecraft. Usachev and Onufriyenko were joined by French astronaut Claudie Andre-Deshays after the departure of Shannon Lucid.

On September 2, 1996, Usachev, Yuri Onufriyenko and Claudie André-Deshays returned to Earth on board the Soyuz TM-23 capsule. On board Soyuz TM-23 and Mir, cosmonaut Yuri Usachev spent 193 days in space.

INFORMAION ABOUT COSMONAUT:

Yury Vladimirovich Usachev is a former cosmonaut, he is a veteran of four spaceflights, including two long-duration missions on board the Mir Space Station and another on board the International Space Station.

During his career, he also conducted seven spacewalks before his retirement on April 5, 2004