posted 07-27-2016 11:54 PM
Personally, I'd steer clear. That seller has had a lot of gloves for sale, all with supposedly flown provenance. Moreover, most of them look somewhat atypical (colors of the pads and fingertips are unusual, serial numbers look odd, etc). Based on my understanding, the earlier gloves (Models 7K/8K) have orange natural rubber grips (actually rubber-coated fabric), with blue-green fingertips. The auction gloves you link to have odd brown rubber grips and what looks like black fingertips. Never seen that combo before. And the serial number suggests an early model glove (7K), yet the pressure chart on the gauntlet is the Model 10K style (with a double border around the chart, in contrast to the single border found on Model 8K gloves).
I've heard that many Orlans that are on the market were made on the side by Zvezda employees using real parts and materials that they cobbled together in order to feed the collector's market. Although such gloves are "real" (inasmuch as they were made at Zvezda using authentic materials), they were never intended to be used in either training or flight.
My understanding is that this is especially true of later model gloves used on the ISS (Model 10K especially). Earlier/older gloves (Models 7K and 8K) — especially those showing lots of signs of use — are more likely to be authentic. (With the exception of the gloves you link to, which according to the serial number are 7K, but look both very new and very odd...). So, caveat emptor...
Also, for reference: Just a few weeks ago I was looking into buying a flown pair of Orlan model 10K gloves with exceptional provenance (ISS EVA-used, signed letter from the cosmonaut who used them, photographs with correct glove serial numbers visible during EVA, photos with the cosmonaut and gloves back on earth, etc.). The seller told me he purchased them directly from the cosmonaut for $8K, and wouldn't consider anything below $10k.
Owing to their size, Orlan suits generally did not came back to earth (although one came back on Atlantis), and the gloves tended to remain on the station for use by future crews. Occasional examples of "returned" gloves are out there, but as others have stated, in the absence of iron-clad provenance, assume all Sokol and Orlan gloves are unflown.
Also, for the past 15 years or so, many of the unquestionably flown Orlan and Sokol gloves I've seen (from the ISS) bear "cancellation" handstamps (the official ISS hand stamp, as well as the mission-specific stamp of the crew, and a dated cancellation) in order to certify flown status. I'm sure there a some that don't have this, but cosmonauts aren't stupid, and if they have any plans to sell these things, they know what constitutes "proof" of flown status...
posted 07-27-2016 11:26 AM
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