Space Station Crew Can Access Gun

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SamTuckerMTNMAN

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Guns in space, and POLL

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

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

Space Station Crew Can Access Gun

POSTED: 6:16 am EST February 14, 2008
UPDATED: 7:25 am EST February 14, 2008


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.


Survey: Should Space Station Have Gun?






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.
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Click to expand...

ps - poll is 59 yes to 41 no, percent
 
Oh, for the love of Zeus! Do we have to sissify every profession--even astronaughts--to the point that they are incompetant to possess a firearm?
:(​

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.
Click to expand...
How? An astronaught bent on murderous rage could just scuttle the whole craft... who needs that silly little Makarov in the survival kit?

He said the gun has no place in an environment where people are under such high stress.
Click to expand...
Hmmm... Police officers always say they have high-stress jobs, so by his logic they should be disarmed! Would the same go for the army? Maybe they can operate a tank, but we can't trust them with a pistol.

Me thinks Oberg is a little jealous of the fellas that actually got to fly the shuttle, while he was left down on Earth playing with his slide rule.

Yes 74 58%
No 53 42%
 
Oberg is out of his mind if he thinks that this gun would make any difference whatsoever to someone who wanted to kill their crewmates in space; that being said, this is the pistol that Russia issues as survival equipment: it has two 32-gauge smoothbore barrels (for launching flares or firing shotshells) over a single rifled barrel in 5.45x39mm. The detachable shoulder-stock can also be used as a machete or a shovel.

TP-82-1.jpg
 
SPACE STATION CREW CAN ACCESS GUN
[www.wesh.com/news/15298911/detail.html]

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.

Survey: Should Space Station Have Gun? 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.

Comments?
 
ROTFL! Okay, hear me out. If the most thoroughly trained, highly screened group of people in the world can't be trusted with a firearm when the environment they're in presents one of the most dangerous there is, what hope is there for the rest of us poor shlubs? Good grief, the nannies of the world are running rampant! This is worse than "The sky is falling". "The sky is falling and they have a gun up there!"

I wonder, is it an Assault Survival Weapon? :barf::barf::barf:
 
The grand logical disconnect occurs right... about... here:

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
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:confused:

Rather than gun control, they might want to get onto "turn this entire installation into a huge fireball" control.
 
I want one! :D

Should the space station crew have access to a gun?
Choice Votes Percentage of 520 Votes
Yes 305 59%
No 215 41%
Thank you for participating in our survey.
 
Leave it to WESH. Those people are idiots.

So let me get this straight - a gun that's been in space since the space station's inception, that's never been used in a crime, that's only their as part of an emergency kit...is all of the sudden news?

And this fear of "oh if an astronaut snaps" is BS. I'm not space expert, but I'd imagine if an astronaut snapped and wanted to kill everyone on board, there's got to be no less than 100 differents switches that could be thrown to accomplish such an act.

But WESH is worried about a gun.

Robert
 
Soyuz capsules have ALWAYS had guns in them.

Their default landing mode is to parachute into the middle of Beacoup Nowhere, Siberia. Cosmonauts have waited many hours for their recovery teams to show up, and in the early days, it was entirely concievable it would take days to find the capsule in the wilderness.

Having your propaganda stunt heroes be found half eaten by wildlife would NOT reflect well on one's system.

(Sidebar: I've always harbored annoyance at early Russian "first" claims. They cheated. They didn't know how to land the capsules with the guys in them for the first couple of space shots, and so Gregarin and a couple of the other early guys *jumped* out of the capsule and parachuted after re-entry. They also had the embarassing tendency to crack open the capsules and find their guys dead inside, but hey, what the heck, it was all for the mommyland...)
 
I'd love to be up there doing some space-plinking, i never knew about this but it isn't surprising. imagine that though, a journalist questioning the most highly trained and screened, most distinguished individuals among us because part of their survival kit is a firearm. sometimes i think our journalists need to go inspect the airlock...
 
it has two 32-gauge smoothbore barrels (for launching flares or firing shotshells) over a single rifled barrel in 5.45x39mm. The detachable shoulder-stock can also be used as a machete or a shovel.
Click to expand...


Just another thought, would it have to registered under NFA as an SBR, SBS or what? Darn Russian Cosmonauts, they get toys we have to register and pay a tax for!

I would imagine the machete would make a far more practical weapon in space than the firearm. Wouldn't have to worry about perforating your capsule. I wonder if they have wrenches and screwdrivers up there too? Oh, the horror!
 
If I was in space I'd want a phased plasma rifle with at LEAST a 40 watt range!
He said the gun has no place in an environment where people are under such high stress.
Click to expand...
Maybe for him. Believe it or not, some people have self control AND can operate under stress without shooting comrades.
 
I would like to shoot a gun in space....


No wind to slow it down... mostly free from earth gravity.


I'd put a few rounds into the sun and the moon. Just because. :)
 
I agree that this is somewhat old news. I have been a space buff for decades now, and the Soviets/Russians have had this in their survival kit for many, many years. If I recall correctly, NASA has been silent over the Mercury and Gemini survival kits containing a handgun, although it was rumored at the time.
 
Well, it's simple.

The nannies should write to Putin and tell him how to run the space program in Russia. I'm sure that will be well received and he'll scramble to please them.

Yeah, Right!
 
For those of you that want to do some plinking in space, think about physics for a monment.

FOR EACH ACTION THERE IS AN EQUAL AND OPPSITE REACTION.

This means that the recoil will act as a rocket burn and no telling what your resulting orbit will be.

Let me know what the alians look like when they reel you in.





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