A wrist-mounted mirror is a standard component of the Sokol spacesuit worn on every Soyuz mission. Its purpose and history are worth a closer look.
What Is This Device?
It’s a mirror supplied as part of the official kit for the Soviet/Russian Sokol KV-2 (Сокол КВ-2) spacesuit, first flown on Soyuz T-2 in 1980. Ever since, it has been worn on all Soyuz flights during ascent and descent, as well as during docking operations. A mirror is always mandatory.
↑ Close-up views of the mirror. The mounting on a Sokol glove is technically incorrect and serves only illustrative purposes.
Like the rest of the suit, the mirror is developed and manufactured by NPP Zvezda in Tomilino, near Moscow.
It is the only interchangeable “accessory,” but it serves a critical function. Typically worn on the right forearm (the left is occupied by an integrated pressure gauge and often a chronograph), the mirror compensates for the restricted mobility and limited field of view cosmonauts experience in their Kazbek molded seats by enabling all-around visibility. Its primary purpose is to allow inspection of the suit itself, especially the helmet seal.
The Example In My Collection Comes From Cosmonaut Sergey Avdeev.
He signed the reverse and, as seen on some of his autographs for a time, added the number “748.” This represents the (rounded) number of days he spent in space across three missions—Soyuz TM-15 (1992/93), Soyuz TM-22 (1995/96), and Soyuz TM-28/29 (1998/99)—all of which traveled to the Mir space station. Avdeev was the first person to accumulate more than two years in space (exactly 747d 14h 14m 1s), a record he held until 2005. To this day, he ranks second for longest single mission and sixth for total time in space.
Was This Mirror Actually Flown?
When I received the mirror, I refrained (out of courtesy) from asking whether Avdeev’s exceptionally generous gift had actually been flown. Based on comparison images, he appears to have worn a mirror matching mine in color only on his final mission, the one that made him a record holder. Until shortly before that, white or beige frames had been standard.
↑ Autograph of Sergey Avdeev (with the inscription “748”); taken in Baikonur before the launch of Soyuz TM-28, together with Gennady Padalka.
Unlike some specimens that command high prices at auction, my example bears no on-board stamp. It does feature typical serial markings: a two-digit number and a seven-digit sequence (intentionally not shown). However, these do not encode any decipherable information; they are likely internal, production-specific identifiers that may allow assignment to a particular suit.
They do not distinguish between training and flight mirrors, simply because no such distinction exists.
Given that Zvezda manufactures most Sokol suits for specific missions and individual cosmonauts, later reusing them for training, it is reasonable to assume that most mirrors—even those intended as spare parts—were produced as flight units. Accordingly, since the introduction of the Sokol KV-2, a mid-three-digit number of mirrors was likely manufactured. I plan to refine this estimate in future research.
Technical Details
As far as I can tell, no public technical documentation of the Sokol mirror exists. I therefore examined my example in detail:
| Mass | 36 g (1.3 oz) |
| Mirror | 5.9 × 7.6 cm (2.3 × 3 in) internal dimensions; mounted on a fiber-reinforced plastic plate, total thickness under 3 mm (0.12 in); likely bonded into the frame |
| Frame | housing made of two fused plastic shells, 4 mm (0.15 in) wide and 5 mm (0.2 in) thick overall; no visible screws, no magnetic components |
| Strap | thick elastic fabric, 3.5 cm (1.4 in) wide, approx. 24 cm (9.5 in) long when relaxed; sewn to the housing; suitable for an arm circumference of at least 31.5 cm (12.5 in) |
| Color | blue, matching other Sokol components; white/beige frames also exist (typical of earlier units), as well as straps with white edging or white/red striping on a blue base |
The bonded mirror, fused shell construction, and sewn strap all suggest manual assembly. It remains unclear whether the strap length is custom-fitted like other Sokol components or a one-size-fits-all solution. In any case, the design is far too large to function as a conventional handheld mirror.
Historical Context
There are no publicly available sources on the development of Sokol mirrors, so a closer look is warranted. Earlier Zvezda suits—SK-1 and SK-2 from the Vostok era (1961–63)—already featured mirrors, though these were integrated directly into the suit. The same applied to the Berkut suit worn by Alexei Leonov during his historic first spacewalk on Voskhod-2 (1965), as well as to the Yastreb suits used for the crew transfer between Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5 (1969).
At that time, Soviet spacesuits were used exclusively for extravehicular activities (EVAs). Since Voskhod-1 (1964), no suits were worn inside the spacecraft—partly to demonstrate technological maturity, but primarily to save space and accommodate more cosmonauts at the expense of safety. This decision was reversed only after the Soyuz 11 disaster (1971), when the crew would have survived the fatal decompression had they been wearing pressure suits.
↑ Soyuz-12 crew members Vasily Lazarev and Oleg Makarov during a briefing at the launch site in Baikonur; Makarov during training in the spacecraft.
For Soyuz-12 (1973), not only was the spacecraft redesigned, but an emergency suit—the Sokol-K (“K” for Kosmos)—was developed based on the Sokol pressure suit used by fighter pilots. It is not suitable for spacewalks (and in that sense, not a “real” spacesuit) but provides protection inside the Soyuz spacecraft during all critical phases of flight. Sokol-K was the first Soviet spacesuit to feature a freely movable wrist mirror, already visually similar to modern versions. This is evident in photographs of the Soyuz 12 crew.
A Proven Concept to This Day
The wrist mirror proved so effective that it has been retained in all subsequent Sokol variants, including the Sokol KV-2, and also adopted for EVA suits such as Orlan-D (from 1977 onward).
This remains the case today.
Interestingly, the technical literature—at least what is accessible—offers no detailed rationale for this fundamental design decision. Beyond expanding the field of view through adjustability, a key factor was likely that omitting an integrated mirror simplifies suit manufacturing while allowing damaged mirrors to be replaced easily.
However, this was not a Soviet innovation but an American one: the Gemini G3C and G4C suits were equipped with wrist mirrors from the outset. That may also explain why the Sokol accessory has attracted relatively little attention from “official” sources.