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.
Really. I had no idea guns in space was ever even an issue. Maybe having my character attacked for pursuing a line of questioning nobody else was paying attention to caused me to block out painful memories...?
5 comments:
It's actually "Gun in Space". Why only ONE?
Weight limitation?
I guess the gun is just in case of a crash landing, to ward of scavengers, animal or people hunting for sellable debris/expensive components.
Yes. Since the first spaceflights both the Russkies as well as our astronauts have had survival packs that included firearms.
Former NASA engineer Jim Oberg...said the gun has no place in an environment where people are under such high stress.
Because everyone knows that the mere presence of a firearm will cause slaughter and mayhem amongst even the most stable and best-trained humans on the planet. Studies prove it.
"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.
But...the gun has been there all this time. Astro-people have caused worries! Why hasn't there been slaughter and mayhem, Mr. Oberg? Oh, it's just a matter of time. Yeah, right. Okayfine.
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.
Safer? Safer than what? Safer than ZERO incidents in space? Oh, wait a minute...you have a procedure for crazy astronauts, don't you? Isn't that what duct tape is for? Studies show that bringing duct tape to a gunfight is a valid and acceptable astro-response.
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.
What kind of gun is it? I bet it's an Elmerov Fuddski special. A semi-automatic, pump-action, double-barreled shot-rifle.
The Russian engineers are far more practical and common-sense than the Americans. While NASA spent millions on a ball-point pen that would work in zero-gravity, the Russians equipped their cosmonauts with...
pencils.
This was in the news a while ago- details of the gun are here-
http://crypticsubterranean.blogspot.com/2007/10/space-gun.html
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