Real world spacecraft question? What is this thing in ShenZhou?

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What is this? Is this an instrument display? A window for visual navigation? What does it do?
I have seen those in earlier ShengZhou mission, like 5,6,7.
 

paddy

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Doh... it's the gate controller, LCD version
 

4throck

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It's a periscope, just like on Soyuz.

soytmpnl.jpg
 

Urwumpe

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It's a periscope, just like on Soyuz.

More specific, its a special periscope, where the round main periscope view in the center is surrounded by a number of smaller views, that are supposed to show the horizon. This way you can manually maneuver the spacecraft to level attitude (By making all surrounding smaller views show equally much black space and blue Earth)

You can then use the periscope to find out in which direction you are traveling by switching it to point downward and then make the ground below you travel up to down in the display.
 

Andy44

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In the film Gravity that device is plainly visible during the scenes where Sandra Bullock is in the cockpit. Look at the lower right corner starting around 11 seconds in:

 
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