Ed has spent over 200 days in space, on the ISS and Mir, and then co-founded B612 to defend Earth from asteroids.
The grid he is pointing two used row and column switches to activate a mechanical relay. That artifact of electromechanical design carries forward to the touch screens seen in Gravity with a matrix of options on a grid.
Main panels like this were removed after flights for analysis and possible reuse. But it proved more cost effective to run the assembly line to make more new units than to test and re-qualify flown hardware like this.
In the background is the upper part of a Russian surface to air missile of the type that shot down the U.S. U-2 spy plane.
These photos by Peter Thoeny, with the visiting group from LUNAR, more below.
And some details… mechanical globe: 
The Vzor interface to the periscope that rests at the center of the flight deck: 
It is used for docking and reentry. For reentry, to make sure the angle is correct, the pilot aligns the Earth’s circumference in the outer ring of eight prisms, which serve as a segmented wide-angle lens: (
He also made a special request to feel the SpaceX contractor’s models for the Falcon 9 and Dragon. He has heard so much about them, but this was the only way he could feel what they look like.
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