Gun on the Space Station...

[pullpin]

http://www.wesh.com/news/15298911/detail.html

Very interesting. The Russians are awesome. I wonder what type of gun it is...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Astronauts aboard the International Space Station apparently have access to a gun.

Russian Cosmonauts carry a gun on their Soyuz space capsule, which is attached to the space station.

Every spacecraft carries survival gear for crash landings, and the Russian Soyuz has a kit that includes the gun.

A photo of a space tourist using one version of the weapon is posted on his Web site.

But although the gun has been there for as long as the space station has been in orbit, its existence is kept quiet. NASA and Russian officials won't talk publicly about it.

Former NASA engineer Jim Oberg, who is an author and journalist, wrote about the gun on his Web site. He said the gun has no place in an environment where people are under such high stress.

"There have been cases of severe psychological strain on people in space, strain that they have taken out -- that their shipmates worried about the ultimate actions," Oberg said.

Experts said the idea of an astronaut losing control was unthinkable until one year ago, when Lisa Nowak shattered the myth.

Her own attorney said she was insane when arrested for hunting down another woman, and prosecutors said she was heavily armed.

Nowak had flown in space just seven months earlier.

Oberg knows an astronaut bent on orbital manslaughter could simply throw any number of switches to do the job, but he said the crews would be safer if the gun was locked up or left on Earth.

The gun is located in a survival kit between some seats aboard the Soyuz spacecraft. All the crewmembers know about it, and U.S. astronauts who fly aboard the Soyuz are trained to use it.

[WhiteFeather]

Global gun control?

How come the other counties didn't want to join the international arms race in space?

How come the other counties didn't want to join the international arms race in space?

Or is Russian only ones to have access to firearms in space, by treaty or something?


Maybe it’s why no one ever high jacks Russian airliners, they trust their pilots with firearms in the cockpit and space capsules?


Nice Find +1

[pullpin]

Maybe we need Space Gun Control laws... I guess our PA LTCF is not valid in space... That sucks.

[RocketFoot]

I find it hard to believe our astronauts aren't packing some weapons in space! NASA just ain't gonna talk about it!

[Aran]

I can't see a gun in space as a good idea.

One poor shot... make a little hole to space.....

[RocketFoot]

Originally Posted by Aran

I can't see a gun in space as a good idea.

One poor shot... make a little hole to space.....

2 words...Frangible Rounds

[phillyshooter]

You have to be prepared for any alien life you may encounter.

[pullpin]

Originally Posted by RocketFoot

I find it hard to believe our astronauts aren't packing some weapons in space! NASA just ain't gonna talk about it!

So the Americans are CCing.

[RocketFoot]

Just like sex in space! They don't talk about it, but you know as well as I do that it happened!

(This is rumored to be a hoax...but it is kinda interesting in a funny way!)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2000/feb/24/spaceexploration.internationalnews1

[RandomTask]

Originally Posted by RocketFoot

Just like sex in space! They don't talk about it, but you know as well as I do that it happened!

I can hear the pickup line now, "Hey Baby, ever wanna be a memeber of the 60 mile high club?

I wonder how many members there are.

I used to be in deep sea research, and I know of a couple people who are well-rumoured to be in the "mile deep club".